Ellinikon International Airport Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ελληνικού | |||||||||||||||
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 Aerial view of the airport in 1998. The construction site on the top of the image is what would become the new Athens airport. | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Defunct | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Hellinikon S.A.[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Athens | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Elliniko,Athens, Greece | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1938; 88 years ago (1938) | ||||||||||||||
| Closed | 28 March 2001; 24 years ago (2001-03-28) | ||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Olympic Airways | ||||||||||||||
| Focus city for | Trans World Airlines | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 21 m / 68 ft | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°53′54″N23°43′46″E / 37.89833°N 23.72944°E /37.89833; 23.72944 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
 Interactive map ofEllinikon International Airport | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| The airport is closed to all aviation. | |||||||||||||||
Ellinikon International Airport (IATA:ATH,ICAO:LGAT), sometimes spelledHellinikon, was aninternational airport that servedAthens, Greece, for 63 years. Following its closure on 28 March 2001, it was replaced by the newAthens International AirportEleftherios Venizelos. The airport was located seven kilometres (4+1⁄2 miles) south of Athens, and just west ofGlyfada. It was named after the village ofElliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but served 13.5 million passengers during its last year of operations. A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium and sports facilities for the2004 Olympic Games.
The former airport is now the site of a major development for coastal Athens, which came under criticism because well-preserved historic buildings (from the 1930s) were demolished. In 2020, construction began on theHellenikon Metropolitan Park, a complex consisting of luxury homes, hotels, a casino, the Inspire Athens tower, a marina, shops, and offices. The first phase is supposed to be ready in between 2027 and 2028.[3][4]
The airport site is bordered by beaches to the west, by the Glyfada Golf Club to the south, by the Elliniko-Glyfada municipal boundary, and by a residential area. The Athens radar center is still based at Elliniko.
Built in 1938, Ellinikon International Airport was originally called Kalamaki Airfield. Following the German invasion of Greece in 1941, Kalamaki Airfield was used as aLuftwaffe air base during the occupation. After World War II, the Greek government allowed the United States to use the airport from 1945 until 1993. Known as Hassani Airport in 1945, it was used by theUnited States Army Air Forces (USAF) as early as 1 October 1945 as a base of operations forAir Transport Command flights betweenRome,Italy, and points in theMiddle East. By agreement with Greece, the USAF operated out of the airport for over four decades. In 1988, in one of the first projects for the eventual bid for the1996 Summer Olympics, the Greek government decided not to renew the agreement, as technical and security issues prevented the airport's modernization and expansion. Additionally, it was considered one of the most difficult and risky airports in the world for take-offs and landings because of the natural characteristics of the region (a short and small runway on a narrow strip of flat land between theAegean Sea and the mountains surrounding the Attiki basin, particularly Mt. Hymmetus. After the non-renewal of the agreement, a series of feasibility studies began on the possibility of a deactivation of the airport and the construction of a new one. Three years after the withdrawal of the agreement, the USAF concluded its operations after the end of theGulf War.[6]
The airport was the base of operations for the Greek national carrierOlympic Airways. The airport had two terminals: the West Terminal for Olympic Airways, and the East Terminal for all other carriers.[7]: 27 The East Terminal building was designed between 1960 and 1969 byFinnish architectEero Saarinen.[8] Just before its closure in 2001, the airport recorded a 15.6% growth rate over its previous year, serving 13.5 million passengers per year and handling 57 airlines flying to 87 destinations. The airport's official capacity was 11 million passengers per year.[9]
The airport was closed on 28 March 2001. The last aircraft to depart from Ellinikon was an Olympic AirwaysBoeing 737 bound forThessaloníki. All flights were transferred to the newAthens International Airport, located 20 km east of the city inSpata.[10]
A large part of the airport is still derelict, and old aircraft and airport vehicles can still be seen on the site.[11][12] The site has been used as a camp for immigrants and refugees.[13] The Civil Aviation Museum operated out of the West Terminal from April 2011 until 2018. The Olympic Airways Employees’ Cultural Center (POLKEOA) hopes to reopen a museum showcasing its collection of Olympic Airways memorabilia and aircraft.[14]
After its closure, the northwest portion of the airport was redeveloped. Aprons were converted into aprovisory Olympic complex that housed the 2004 Summer Olympics venues for canoe and kayak slalom, field hockey, baseball, and softball. Other Olympics-related upgrades to the airport included transforming one of the western hangars into the secondary arena for the basketball tournament and the fencing competition. During the2004 Summer Paralympics, the arena hosted wheelchair fencing and sitting volleyball matches. The archery events, blind football, and CP football were held at the hockey and softball fields.
In 2005, a team led by architectsDavid Serero, Elena Fernandez, and landscape architect Philippe Coignet won a competition against over 300 teams of architects to design a metropolitan park on the former site of the Ellinikon Airport. The competition was sponsored by UIA (International Union of Architects), the Greek Ministry of Environment, and the Organization for the Planning and Environmental Protection of Athens (ORSA). The project was further developed in 2006 and 2007 by this team through two development phases with the planning organizations of Athens. By 2012, government plans to attract investors and develop the site commercially were eclipsing the proposed park, though nearby communities remained vocal about their preference for a park.[15] There was also another plan to turn the airport into a coastal resort.[16] The park will be the site of theHard Rock Hotel & Casino Athens and theRiviera Tower. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will be the firstintegrated resort in Greece and the Riviera Tower will be a residential tower.
The following is a list of aircraft accidents and incidents that occurred at or in the vicinity of Ellinikon airport. Only deadly occurrences orhull-losses are listed.
Elliniko has a hotsemi-arid climate (BSh), closely bordering aMediterranean climate (Csa) with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters.
| Climate data for Athens,Elliniko, 10 m asl (1955-1997) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.6 (56.5) | 14.1 (57.4) | 15.7 (60.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 24.1 (75.4) | 28.7 (83.7) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.7 (89.1) | 28.2 (82.8) | 23.2 (73.8) | 18.8 (65.8) | 15.2 (59.4) | 22.0 (71.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.0 (44.6) | 7.1 (44.8) | 8.4 (47.1) | 11.4 (52.5) | 15.8 (60.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 22.8 (73.0) | 22.8 (73.0) | 19.6 (67.3) | 15.6 (60.1) | 12.0 (53.6) | 8.8 (47.8) | 14.3 (57.7) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 48.3 (1.90) | 40.9 (1.61) | 39.7 (1.56) | 26.0 (1.02) | 15.2 (0.60) | 5.6 (0.22) | 5.2 (0.20) | 7.0 (0.28) | 9.6 (0.38) | 47.8 (1.88) | 55.4 (2.18) | 64.1 (2.52) | 364.8 (14.35) |
| Source: Hellenic National Meteorological Service[25] | |||||||||||||
Ellinikon had been featured in several movie productions:
It includes a military base, a West Terminal, which is used solely by Olympic Airways, and a newer (1969) East Terminal, which is used by all the other carriers, and which houses the airport management and airline offices.
Media related toEllinikon International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
