Athens Airport handled 23.71 million passengers in the eight-month period from January to August, 4.4 per cent more than last year, and in August, for the first time in its history, it exceeded 4 million passengers in a single month, reaching 4.03 million. The figures were provided by the Chief Executive of Athens International Airport, Giorgos Kallimasias, speaking on Wednesday 30 September at the 9th Infrastructure and Transport Conference. Management has revised its forecast for the whole year upwards, to a mid-single-digit percentage increase, and attributed part of the growth to ten new destinations and four new airlines.
The airport’s investment programme totals 950 million euros by 2030. Currently under construction are the multi-storey car park, the expansion of the aircraft parking area to accommodate 32 additional aircraft, and the new terminal for government officials, with completion scheduled for the end of 2027. For the terminal extensions, AIA is changing its strategy and proceeding in stages: the tender for the South Extension, in the Extra Schengen area, is due to be launched within the next week, whilst the tender for the North Extension is scheduled for in about a year’s time. Together, the two will provide a capacity of 33 million passengers a year, with a long-term target of 40 million.
For Artemida, the figure that counts is not the number of passengers but the number of flights — and the month in which the record was set is the same month as that recorded by the city’s noise monitoring station. In August, the NMT 5 ‘Artemida’ station recorded 1,495 noise events from aircraft, approximately 48 per day, with an Lden index of 49.6 and an Lnight index of 30.6. The ‘Agios Ioannis’ station (NMT 3), the closest to the runway axis, recorded 8,105 incidents with an Lden of 62.0 — the highest figures of all nine stations at the airport. In the same month, 5 of the 9 complaints about aircraft noise received by AIA came from Artemida, as we reported.
This increase in traffic is now compounded by a second development. From 23 September to 4 November, and again from 19 December to 17 February 2027, the airport is operating with intensive use of a single runway around the clock due to construction works. Whilst this is ongoing, the same neighbourhoods will hear almost every arrival and departure. The September monthly noise report is expected at the end of October, via the Municipality of Rafina–Pikermi, which publishes them, and will be the first to show the combination of increased traffic and single-runway operations.
There is also a pending court case. On 8 July, the Single-Judge Court of First Instance of Athens, in its judgment 3966/2026 on an application for interim relief in which the Municipality of Spata was also a party–Artemida, ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to put in place, within four months, a monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with the low-noise take-off procedure, with a fine of 10,000 euros for non-compliance. The deadline falls within the current construction period.
In practice, residents who are experiencing a nuisance have one way of getting their complaint recorded in the official records: the airport’s 24-hour ‘We’re Listening’ at 210 3530003 and the email address NoiseComplaints@aia.gr. It is helpful to provide the time, address and, if possible, the flight details (arrival or departure). With a total of nine complaints in August and over 14,000 recorded incidents at the five stations around Artemida, the gap between what is heard and what is recorded is the fundamental problem in any discussion of noise.
Source: statements by AIA Chief Executive George Kallimasias at the 9th Infrastructure and Transport Conference, 30 September 2026; AIA monthly noise report for August 2026; Decision No. 3966/2026 of the Athens First Instance Court.
