From Athens to Madrid, to Tallinn and then to Dallas !! How Athens International Airport is strongly supporting its airline partners!

This is a very busy period for Athens International Airport, Airline Development and Marketing team, as in a few days, we organized and financially covered a number of events to promote and support our airline partners.

Following the return from Routes Asia in the second half of April, the team made all final preparations for  the Athens annual flagship event the “2.5 Airline Marketing Workshop”, held on the 5th of May with almost 300 participants – the very much anticipated Airline Awards Ceremony was also celebrated - where, each year,  the airlines  with the best performance are presented with awards!

Then, on the 12th of May, the airport organized a Trade event with Iberia, promoting the airline and its services to the trade partners.

The following day, on the 13th of May, a Press event with airBaltic was held, to promote Athens’ new route to Tallinn and the long-lasting relationship between airBaltic and Athens International Airport.

All of that, just a few days before the team travels to Routes Europe in Rimini, to attend a super busy 3 days’ conference , with back-to-back meetings with airline partners.

And … upon our  return from Routes Europe, the very next day (22nd of May),  we are organizing an impressive inaugural event with American Airlines to celebrate the launch of Athens NEW direct connection to Dallas with American Airlines.

 

Iberia’s strong presence at Athens International Airport

On the 12th of May, Athens International Airport organized and fully covered a Trade event for Iberia. Iberia is a “success story” and a close partner to  Athens, with record passenger numbers in recent years.

The event was hosted to promote Iberia, its services and its network to the trade partners, aiming at enhancing awareness and sales.

Spain is a very important market for Athens International Airport, ranking in the TOP10 in Direct traffic, in Tourism and a one of the TOP markets for Greeks traveling internationally.

Since their start of operations at Athens International Airport, Iberia carried almost 3.6 million passengers to and from Athens.

In 2025, Iberia achieved a record year with an increase of 7.1% to 2024, or +159% to Pre-pandemic levels.

In August 2026, the peak of the Summer season, Iberia will offer 30 weekly departures.

Iberia is not only connecting Athens to Marid, but beyond, with Brazil, Mexico, Portugal, Peru and Chile as the TOP 5 country markets for 2025.

airBaltic is adding a NEW route to Tallinn from Athens and enhanced services to Riga to full year-round

On the 13th of May, Athens International Airport organized and fully covered a Press event for airBaltic, promoting the airline, its 2 routes network from Athens and transfer dynamics of its Riga hub.

airBaltic is a long-lasting partner for Athens International Airport, with passenger traffic constantly increasing in the last couple of years.

The airline, first entered the Athens market in 2007 offering a service to Riga, operating non-stop ever since.

In 2025, airBaltic achieved its strongest year ever at Athens International Airport, increasing even more during the first 4 months of 2026 by 73% to Jan-Apr 2025.

Due to the strong dynamics of the Baltic market and Tallinn in specific, the airline added a New route, connecting Athens to Tallinn in Summer 2026.

Driven by successful operations and strong confidence in the Athens market, airBaltic extended its Riga-Athens route to full year-round, in the Winter 2025-2026 period.

American Airlines is adding a NEW route to the US, connecting Athens to Dallas

Returning from Routes Europe at Rimini, the Airline Development and Marketing team will organize and fully cover an Inaugural event on the 22nd of May, to celebrate the inauguration of the Dallas direct route. The strong network of Athens to the US is further enhanced with the addition for the very first time, of a direct route to Dallas with American Airlines, offering daily flights with Boeing 777-300ER equipment.

Last year (2025), Athens achieved a record year in US traffic, as the total market in terms of O&D surpassed for the very first time 2 mio round-trip PAX. That is an increase of 12% to 2024.

And, this is increasing further in 2026, despite the global unrest, with O&D up by 14% for the first 3 months of 2026 vs.2025.

This Summer, Athens will be connected directly to 9 airport destinations in the US, offering 103 weekly departures in the peak-Summer period.

As Dallas is the strongest HUB for American Airlines, this direct route will allow travellers to connect to even more beyond destinations, offering  additional options in the US market, especially from the West Coast.

In 2026, American Airlines will offer the highest number of US routes from Athens, connecting it directly  to 5 airports in the US (New York JFK, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte & Dallas) and offering 35 weekly departures from Athens in the peak-Summer season.

 

More routes and more events are planned with our airline partners! Stay tuned!