New £540million airport expansion plans revealed for European city named top 2025 destination
A TRENDING holiday destination for 2025 is getting a new £540millon airport expansion.
Athens International Airport is the Greece’s biggest airport.
However, its current passenger capacity is just 26million a year – and the new plans hope to expand this to 40million.
The expansion plans have been designed by a number of architecture firms including Grimshaw, behind future plans for UK train stations Curzon Station and the expanded Waterloo Station.
They are also behind the up-coming YTL Arena in Bristol, Eden Project in Morecambe as well as previous projects of Euston Station and the Elizabeth Line.
Along with firms Haptic and K-Studio, the design show a much larger terminal building as the main expansion.
The huge halls will have large covered gardens as well as more lounges and shops.
A dedicated Extra Schengen facility will help process more passengers to improve passengers experience travelling through the airport.
The project is expected to cost around £540million, with initial expansion to 33million passengers by 2028.
The project hopes to be completed by 2032, with capacity for 40million passengers a year.
Athens’ main airport first opened in 2001, ahead of the country hosting the 2004 Summer Olympics.
And the Athens Riviera was named a trending destination for 2025 by Forbes.
They wrote: “Travel has been booming among the Greek Islands, where crowds flock to both the well- (Santorini and Mykonos) and lesser-known (Naxos and Ios) spots.
“The next big Greek beach haven lies just 10 miles south of Athens.”
A new £10billion project will transform the coastline of the Athens coastline, being dubbed a “mini Dubai”.
This includes hotel resorts, skyscrapers and outdoor attractions as well as shopping centres.
In the mean time, here is a new glamping resort which opened on the Athens Riviera.
The coastline is just a 30 minute drive from the main Athens airport.
And it isn’t only Athens that is the major airport in Greece undergoing a huge expansion.
The island of Paros, which welcomes just 200,000 passengers a year, is adding a new £34million terminal.
it hopes to be completed by next year with hopes for international flights.
And Crete is getting an entirely new international airport.
Kastelli International Airport is set to open in 2027, replacing the current Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport.
And here is an airport in Athens that was abandoned in 2001 and has been left to rot.