The Eastern Attica Customs Office, based in Spata, will become fully operational on 12 October 2026. By decision of the Director-General of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), Giorgos Pitsilis, the new service brings together the operations of three customs offices that until now have operated separately: Athens International Airport, Rafina and Lavrio. Its geographical jurisdiction covers the entire Regional Unit of Eastern Attica.
In practice, the new service takes over all the goods flows and transactions previously handled by the three customs offices. The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) states that, at the same time, customs surveillance of logistics facilities in the wider airport area is being strengthened and an operational presence is being maintained at the ports of Rafina and Lavrio. This is the point that answers the first reasonable question: the two ports will not be left without customs officers. It is the administrative affiliation that is changing, not the physical presence.
The AADE outlines four key areas for the reorganisation: centralising operations within a single customs unit, the full digitisation of customs procedures, better utilisation of inspection staff and the activation of the Digital Cargo and Goods Tracking System. The establishment of this service completes the new customs map of Attica, following the Piraeus 1 and 2 Customs Offices and the Western Attica Customs Office, which, together with the Attica Customs Co-ordination Centre, make up the new structure.
For the municipality of Spata–Artemida, the change is not merely symbolic. The airport customs office is already located here, but from October, Spata will become the administrative centre for customs control of an area stretching from Rafina to Lavrio. This means that decision-making, supervision and the majority of staff will be concentrated in a single department based in the municipality.
The reason the Independent Authority for Public Revenue is looking in this direction is the concentration of warehouses and haulage companies around ‘Eleftherios Venizelos’. The business parks in Spata and the area along Attiki Odos have, in recent years, become filled with logistics facilities serving air freight and e-commerce. As this volume increases, the customs process is shifting ever more from the ports to the airport.
What local businesses need to do. If you import or export via Rafina or Lavrio, from 12 October the competent authority will change its name and registered office — it is worth checking that the details of the relevant customs authority in your systems and on your documents are updated, and to confirm with your customs agent where declarations are now to be submitted. For businesses already working with the airport customs office, the procedure remains the same, but under the new service.
The question that remains unanswered is that of staffing: the AADE speaks of making better use of audit staff, without having announced how many employees are being transferred to Spata and how many will remain permanently at the two ports. This will become clear in the first few weeks of operation.
Source: AADE, announcement regarding the establishment of the Eastern Attica Customs Office, September 2026.
