AIA business keeps rising
Athens International Airport (AIA) said yesterday its passenger traffic over this year’s summer season rose 6.2 percent. Airport officials said the rise in the April-September period was the result of adding 11 new destinations and five new airlines. «In the same period, total foreign passengers rose 12 percent year-on-year, while passengers traveling for tourism increased 20 percent,» Giorgos Karamanos, the AIA marketing director, told a news conference. Boosted by yet another bumper tourism season, Karamanos said the months of April, May and June saw the highest average increase in foreign tourists, a sign Greece’s tourism season was lengthening. The government wants to sell its 55 percent stake in the five-year old airport on the Athens Stock Exchange, to raise an estimated 1.6 billion euros. «AIA has proved that it is one of the fastest growing airports in Europe,» said Yiannis Paraschis, AIA deputy chief executive. (Reuters)
