Page 5 - Aerostat

Aerostat Handbook 2013 5 4-word May 2014 In another year of economic recession not only for Greece but also for Europe, the main factors impacting the Athens International Airport’s (AIA) traffic development were the reduced disposable income of Greek travellers as well as foreign carriers’ restructuring and network rationalisation. On the other side, growth of incoming tourism in Greece and the gradual resurgence of Athens as a popular tourism destination were positive demand trends which to some extent counterbalanced other negative influential factors. Amidst this challenging and changing aviation market environment, AIA’s traffic amounted to 140 thousand flights and 12.54 million passengers, presenting a decline vs. the corresponding prior year levels of -8.4% and -3.2% respectively. Despite the overall unfavourable result, since May, AIA’s traffic demonstrated a clear recovery trend that continued throughout the second half of 2013, with passenger traffic turning positive in the fourth quarter and continuing its positive performance in the first months of 2014. In the course of 2013, AIA continued to dynamically implement its marketing strategy and incentives’ schemes in order to defend the airport’s pricing approach, minimise traffic losses and assist airlines to sustain their operations to the extent possible. Moreover, in the course of 2013, AIA continued to support and reinforce Athens’ attractiveness as a tourism destination and assist in the recovery of the city’s image, through strategic partnerships and synergies with tourism organisations and associations and a series of corresponding actions and initiatives, such as the promotion of Athens through AIA’s website and at AIA’s lounges and our city-card “athenspotlighted” programme. Our most recent project, the “City Pair Initiative”and the “Perhaψ You‘re an Aθenian too!” campaign promote “Destination-Athens” around the world, through the cooperation and support of 18 fellow airports that have committed to reciprocally promote “Destination-Athens” with all their available communication and promotional means. In recognition of its creativity and continuous support to its airline partners, especially in light of the extremely adverse conditions of the Greek economy, AIA was once more rewarded by the airline industry during the 8th Routes Europe Forum. Having received its 12th recognition in 9 consecutive years, AIA is the most awarded airport for its airport marketing performance. In this 12th edition of the “Aerostat Handbook 2013”, infographics are used to illustrate key market trends and attributes of the airport’s traffic evolution during 2013. Major developments in typical traffic segments, performance of main operational processes, our passengers’ profile, development of incoming and outgoing tourism passing through the airport, as well as major market trends in Greece and worldwide are all presented. We firmly believe that “Aerostat” has proven to be a significant information tool providing valuable information on the Athens travel market. We also wish to reconfirm our commitment to offering continuous support to our customers and business partners through a wide range of market intelligence information and most importantly by introducing pioneer initiatives which honour our risk-sharing philosophy towards our airline partners and promote Athens and Greece. Ioanna Papadopoulou Director, Communications & Marketing