AIA's Passenger Traffic - December 2014
Consistent passenger growth
The airport’s passenger traffic for the month of December reached 1.06 million, returning to the “above 1 million” levels after 5 years, similar to the respective November record. Domestic travellers presented an impressive growth of 40.0% and international passengers continued their consistent growth, above the 20% mark (+20.6%), resulting to an overall robust increase of 27.1%. During December, Greek travellers continued to show a strong growth of almost 23%, with an outstanding increase in their domestic trips (+45%). Foreign visitors travelling to Athens only, grew by an impressive 36%, reaffirming the attractiveness of Athens as a destination, even during the winter period.
Overall, during the year 2014, the airport’s passenger traffic reached 15.2 million, exceeding prior-year levels by 2.7 million passengers, corresponding to a significant increase of 21.2%, with both domestic and international traffic achieving similar levels of growth (+22.5% and +20.5% respectively). This successful outcome is attributed to a series of key factors:
a. the stabilization of the economy, reflected in the increased air travelling of Greek residents, with an overall 14% rise - which was largely driven by the strong 25% growth observed during the second half of the year, b. the strengthening of the city’s attractiveness, clearly shown in the foreign Athens visitors’ robust upward trend, with a remarkable growth of 31% and c. the significant increase in the capacity offered by airlines.