Athens Airport’s Top Markets – AUSTRALIA: ‘Flying the Extra Mile, Mate!’

The Greek Travel Pages GTP.gr is bringing the Athens market in the spotlight with the publication of a series of articles  providing an insight to Athens TOP and most interesting markets.

The published article is available at this link.

A sneak peek at the article below: 

For the 10th and final market in our global journey, we are heading Down Under to focus on the Australian market. While Australia is a distant land — 9,526 miles (15,330 km) from Athens to Sydney — it holds a special place in Greek hearts due to its vibrant and strong Greek diaspora, as well as deep cultural and historical ties, with many friends and relatives residing there.

Australia is home to one of the world’s largest Greek communities. According to the 2021 census, there were 464,835 Australians of Greek and Greek Cypriot ancestry, with 109,051 born in Greece or Cyprus. Greeks around the Globe estimates the total Greek-Australian population to be around 700,000.

Roughly 20 years ago, state-owned Olympic Airlines operated flights to Sydney and Melbourne with a one-stop connection.

In 2023, the Australian market recorded a 13% growth compared to 2019, highlighting its growing importance.

Following the impressive 13% growth in 2023 compared to 2019, the Australian market continues to expand, showing a further 14% increase in the first seven months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

According to  Athens International Airport’s Passenger Survey (2023), the total Australian market is estimated to exceed 300,000 round-trip passengers.

The Australian market is highly seasonal, with 91% of passengers traveling to Athens during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer (based on global travel data from IATA for Athens in 2023). A decade ago, this distribution was 74% in summer and 26% in winter.

Based on global travel data (IATA) for 2023, Athens ranks as a top destination for O&D (origin and destination) traffic from Sydney and Melbourne to Europe, driven by the strong Greek diaspora and Greece’s popularity among Australians.

For Melbourne, Athens ranks as the 4th strongest European destination, while for Sydney, Athens is the 5th strongest.

These rankings are based on IATA tickets originating in Sydney or Melbourne with Athens as the final destination, excluding trips involving separate tickets or stopovers longer than 24 hours at intermediate points.

Sydney and Melbourne account for nearly 72% of traffic from Australia to Athens, followed by Brisbane (11%), Perth (8%), and Adelaide (6%).

Use this link to read the full article!

 A word from us: Athens International Airport is firmly committed to continuing working closely together with our airline colleagues for growth and development!