Athens (ATH) > Reviews > From the ridiculous to the sublime

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Advantages:	New, clean, efficient, spacious
Disadvantages:	If you're on the wrong side of Athens, (i . e .  south or west) leave lots of time to reach it !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Please ignore the very negative opinions here, as they are most probably about the old airport, which was atrocious.

The new airport provides an efficient, spacious and airy (important in Greece - the Greeks do like the odd ciggie) place to arrive or depart. There's a hell of lot of stainless steel in there, giving a clean, if soulless feel.

Check-in times are usually fine, although all my flights there were business, so I'm not the best to comment. Economy queues looked nothing like the ones you see at LGW or LHR though. Staff were helpful.

There is plenty of space in the departure lounges in which to sit. The executive lounges (there's now more than one) are a vast improvement on the old airport's "Apocalypse Lounge", although anywhere near as comfy as the ones at LHR and LGW.

Shopping isn't bad. The old airport had one huge duty-free shop. This has been replaced by many smaller ones, which means less queues but also less choice (no more Smirnoff Black on the cheap :-( ). There's also your standard one electronics shop, one music shop, one luggage shop, etc etc. And a shop selling nothing but souvenirs for Athens 2004, of course!

Of the things that really matter, the only disadvantage to the airport itself is the distances you often have to walk. Although there are travelators, the terminal for BA (and most other foreign operators) is effectively a long strip and it can take well over ten minutes to reach your gate. (LHR has few gates that far and is a much larger airport.)

The airport's location isn't ideal, being further away than the old one, but there are two main ways to get there, one of which is a brand new motorway. Getting to the edge of Athens is pretty quick. The rest of your journey depends upon where in Athens you want to go. If you're heading anywhere near Piraeus, anywhere near rush "hour" (which lasts about 19 hours in Athens ;-) ), then I wish you luck! Catching a Friday night flight at 6pm often meant leaving the office (halfway between Athens and Piraeus) at 1pm, to be sure of catching the flight. Most days you'd get there early, but sometimes you were relieved to have left plenty of time. If you get there early, the front of the airport is a great suntrap...

Take the advice of your hotel concierge as to how much time you'll need, and do book your cab in advance! Speaking of cabs, picking one up from the airport on your arrival is now very easy.

Enjoy Athens, a great European city!