Athens Airport

The airport is well designed and clean. It is easy to navigate and you do not have to cover vast distances like some others ie: FRA. I used it many times the last 6 years and I never left with negative impressions.

Departed early morning out of Athens to Istanbul. The airport was pretty busy but almost all check-in counters were manned and the check-in agents were quite efficient. Immigration and security staff were friendly and smiling.

I recently departed from Athens and found the airport to be on the lower end of what one would expect of a modern European airport. Security control was a mess and the security staff were not polite at all trying to make a complaint is very difficult no manager no customer service. Passengers largely formed masses rather than lines - airport staff only added to the confusion by barking illogical orders.

Very clean well signed spacious short walking distances no queues (security took 1 minute) great shops with local products. There is a cafe outside the departures hall where you can sit and drink your coffee under the sun and very cheap. Good connection with the city with trains buses and taxis. Staff very polite and helpful.

Passport control and baggage clearance was quick. The Metro is only a few minutes away and costs EUR6 to get into the city. Takes about 45mins. Beware of pickpockets on this Metro especially if it get busy. They work as groups and take advantage of travellers speaking a language that is not Greek. We left our larger suitcase at baggage storage which is in the arrivals hall all the way at the end. It cost us EUR9 for 12 hours. There is a good selection of cafes a McDonalds and a couple of restaurants which were expensive. Staff were friendly.

A great experience on both arrival and departure. On arrival needed to walk no more than 3 minutes to go to the baggage belts and the first suitcases had already arrived. With a few steps you are outside the arrivals lounge. A few shops and offices there. Taxis and buses to different parts of the city are right outside the arrivals. If you want to use the train you need to walk a bit further. The train station is surprisingly clean trains new and clean. On departure check-in fast airport staff helpful and friendly. Very well signed and information screens everywhere. The only negative is that you have to pay for the baggage trolleys. Good selection of shops a bit expensive as in all the airports. Security control was busy that day at 15.00 I needed to queue up for about 7-10 minutes. After security control there are no shops (only some cafes) so if you want shopping remember to do that before.

Used this airport twice over summer. The queues for passport control to leave the country were terrible. Nearly an hour's wait with people constantly being taken to the front because their flights were boarding. Why do they check people so carefully to leave when countries such as Britain don't even bother with passport control when departing? The terminal was also very hot. Otherwise it was a pleasant experience.

I used metro to go to Athens from the airport which was very comfortable and fast for 6 euros only. To go to the airport from the city I used a metro train to Plaentias station and then changed to Proastiakos subburban train which was almost empty air conditioned fast clean and comfortable. Airport check in was quite fast in a big bright hall. Many signs showing directions to gates passport control toilets and all other necessary information. There are a lot of shops with souvenirs music CDs different beverages sweets olive oil and all the other food. Most of such shops have reasonable prices but some I found to be a bit expensive compared to the city. The airport is not overcrowded which helps a lot even in top of tourist season. Staff is pleasant and ready to help and explain anything you may ask. Luggage is easy to find and everything goes very quickly. You need just some minutes before you leave the airport when arriving Athens. The only obvious problem about this airport is the passport control - both in arrivals and departures. when arrived a huge crowd of people from different planes went into one small hall with few officers working there. If you have Greek passport - it is OK but for non EU citizen it was about 15 minutes of waiting. Same when departing though in departures there is much more space but again in many cabins only few officers were working. Good thing is they don't take much time checking anything and the crowd goes quite quickly.

I've use this airport a couple of times this summer. It's a nice airport and well connected to Athens. However for Non-EU passport holders the waiting was long to pass the passport control when I took my flights from Canada and Tunisia. Not all the desk were opened and there was many arrivals too. Also when I took my flight back to Montreal there was a long disorganized and chaotic line due to extra security measures to pass the security control.

I recently departed from Athens and found the airport to be on the lower end of what one would expect of a modern European airport. Passport control was a mess. Passengers largely formed masses rather than lines - airport staff only added to the confusion by barking illogical orders. Food services limited before passport control and non-existant after passport control. Security screening staff didn't seem to care about their work. Passengers beeped and were sent through without further search. I cleared through despite having liquids in my bags (which I only realized once through).