Arriving at Athens International Airport, what to expect

If you are arriving by private car or a rental vehicle, access is from Attiki Odos (a map can be found on the airport’s website). Parking is plentiful at the airport with over 4,500 parking spaces available in long and short-term options.

Athens International Airport has an extensive range of retail shopping, internet access, cafés and restaurants. Travel Value duty free is open to all passengers travelling outside the EU and offers significant savings on regular high street prices for goods such as tobacco, wines and spirits as well as perfumes, jewellery and cosmetics.

Germanos is located in the Departures and Arrivals areas offering passengers a range of electronic goods including mobile phones, batteries, music equipment and IT devices. Other items passengers may need are covered in the Presspoint store including books, magazines, travel guides and a selection of travel-sized toiletries.

Fashion accessories can be purchased at a variety of stores in the Departures area of the airport. The stores include the international brands of Diesel, Swatch, Timberland, Nautica, Accessorize, Espirit, Tie Rack and Boss-Hugo Boss meaning that whatever you want to purchase or if you just want to window shop and marvel at the prices, there are plenty of stores to help you pass the time.

As the Greeks like to enjoy their food, it is no surprise that the airport is packed with restaurants and cafés. A Café and Blue Island serve a range of coffees and snacks as well as some draft beers and wines. Everest Olympic Catering and Café Express offer small snacks and sandwiches that are perfect for any busy traveller who doesn’t want sit down for a full meal. The Food Village serves a wide selection of international dishes and some Greek specialities that are advertised as being from original family recipes. The usual chain outlets can be found at Athens International Airport such as McDonalds, McCafé and Caffe Ritazza which will satisfy the usual travel fast-food cravings.

When you arrive at Athens International Airport and pass through customs and immigration, you will find car rental companies where you can hire a car on–the-spot. Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National and Sixt all have car hire desks in the Arrivals Hall. Pre-booking a car rental on the internet before you arrive can save both money and time after your flight, with the internet being the best place to pick up some good last-minute deals on auto rentals.

Business travellers can take advantage of a number of executive options in the airport. There is numerous business lounges located at Athens International Airport providing a relaxed and peaceful working environment for business travellers who need to keep up with their busy schedules when flying. British Airways, Olympic Airways and Swissport have executive lounges in the Extra Schengen area of Departures and Aegean, Alitalia, Goldair Handling, Lufthansa and Olympic Airways have executive lounges in the Intra Schengen Departures area.

Other executive services include Executive Vallet Parking, where business travellers can save time by driving directly to the Departures Hall and handing their car over to an authorised representative who will park and valet the vehicle. Athens International Airport caters for all types of traveller. The airport is designed in a modern and dynamic fashion, with attention having been given to every aspect of both landside and airside attractions and providing an extensive public transport network to get you to and from the airport.