Athens : EL-AL a longstanding partner, Tel-Aviv TOP International non-European destination
At the center: Mr Kobi Golan - AVP Global Operations EL AL, His Excellency Mr Noam Katz – Ambassador of Israel to Greece, Mr Dimitris Fragakis - Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) Secretary General, Mrs Ioanna Papadopoulou - Director Communications & Marketing Athens International Airport, Mr Stelios Flamourakis – Athens Station Manager EL AL
For the occasion of the 75 years’ anniversary for EL-AL, Athens International Airport gladly organized a Press&Trade event downtown Athens.
Outbound travel demand from Israel to Greece is on the up. According to data from Athens International Airport, Israel (Tel Aviv) was the top non-European country in arrivals to Athens during January-August 2023, surpassing the United States (New York), which consistently held the lead.
Mrs Ioanna Papadopoulou, Director, Communications & Marketing, Athens International Airport, referred to the Israeli market’s record growth at Athens Airport this year, with the number of travelers from the country already exceeding 200,000 for the January-August period, surpassing 20,000 on its strongest week yet. The Israeli market at Athens, through its impressive growth, substantially contributes to the passenger traffic growth of Athens throughout the years; from 2009 onwards, despite crises and disruptions, the Israeli market has grown sixfold to 2022, reaching half a million PAX on non-stop services. In the 7 months period of 2023, the Israeli market grew further, recording a 33% growth rate to the same period in 2019.
Tel-Aviv/Israel is Athens thickest route, as a total of 8 airlines (in 2023), are offering non-stop scheduled passenger services. In addition to EL-AL, Aegean, Arkia, Bluebird, Israir, Ryanair, TUS Airways and WizzAir are offering services.
Athens International Airport passenger survey, showed that Isrealis are traveling to Greece primarily for vacations (81 percent), while a significant share of trips are made both for business reasons (9 percent) and to visit friends and relatives (9 percent). They stay in Athens for an average of 8 days, travel to and from Athens International Airport twice a year and book their tickets approximately 43 days before the departure date.
Happy 75th Anniversary, El-Al!
Many happy returns of the Day, with full flights and safe landings!