The prize winning new Eleftherios Venizelos International Athens Airport in Spata, also know as ATH, opened on 29th March 2001. On your arrival, you will be happily surprised finding yourself in a very modern and bright looking airport. There are numerous shops and food concessions, wireless internet zones and free internet kiosks.

Keep in mind that getting to the luggage carousels will take you about 20 minutes from gate B8 in the satellite terminal and about 10 minutes from A8 using the travelators and escalators. Thanks to 11 baggage claim conveyor belts, getting your luggage no longer is a horror. Have a 1 Euro coin ready if you want to use the luggage carts.

Every passenger arriving from a non-EU country must declare whether they are carrying quantities exceeding the legal limits. Customs control activities are performed using a three-channel system:

- Green channel for passengers arriving from Non-EU countries with no
  goods to declare.
- Red channel for passengers arriving from Non-EU countries carrying goods to declare.
- Blue channel for passengers arriving from EU-Countries (free of routine controls).

Hellenic Customs has the right to perform spot checks even at the green or blue channels.

On your departure, make sure you are at the airport at least 2 hours before your plane leaves especially in the busy season. Check-in immediately so you will know which gate you have to go to and when it closes... unless Athens has you in it's spell and you want to stay there forever.

See photos of the airport

Luggage storage

In the far right corner of the arrival hall, you will find the luggage storage area operated by Paciffic. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Duty free

The following goods may be imported into Greece by visitors without incurring customs duty by:

- Residents of European countries with goods bought duty-
  free outside the EU: 800 cigarettes or 200 cigars or 400
  cigarillos or 1kg of tobacco, 10 liter of alcoholic beverage or
  90 liter of wine and 110 liter of beer. There is no limit for
  perfume.

- Residents of countries outside Europe with goods obtained duty-free outside the EU: 200
  cigarettes or 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos or 250 gram of tobacco, 1 liter of alcoholic beverage over
  22 per cent or 2 liter of alcohol beverages of 22 per cent or less and 2 liter of wine and liquors, 50
  gram of perfume and 250 ml of eau de cologne and gifts up to a value of 175 € per person.

The tobacco and alcohol allowances listed above are not available to passengers under the age of 18.

Restricted items: it is forbidden to bring in plants with soil. One wind surfboard per person may be imported/exported duty-free, if registered in the passport on arrival. The export of antiquities is prohibited without the a written permission of the Archaeological Service in Athens. You will be prosecuted if you ignore this.

Abolition of duty-free goods within the EU: on 30 June 1999, the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco at airports and at sea was abolished in all 15 EU member states. Although there are now no limits imposed on importing tobacco and alcohol products from one EU country to another, with the exceptions of Denmark, Finland and Sweden, where limits are imposed, travelers should note that they may be required to prove at customs that the goods purchased are for personal use only. Read more on our Shopping in the EU page

Eleftherios Venizelos Elfeftherios Venizelos (1864-1936) was born in Crete. He was a great politician who became one of the most charismatic European leaders of his time. He founded the Liberal Party and served as Prime Minister of Greece in the troubled times of the Balkan Wars (1912913), World War I (1914-18), the Asia Minor campaign (1919-22) and through a part of the unsettled and creative mid-war period. Through his policies he came into conflict with the monarchy. He contributed to the expansion of the Greek State and set the basis for the modernisation of Greek society, particularly in the years 1928-32. Venizelos was adored and at the same time hated more than any other Greek politician. Apart from being a landmark in Greek history, he is still a point of reference throughout Greece.

Exchanging money

No No No
• Do not bring travellers checks. The banks in Greece will charge you a fee
  for cashing them.
• Do not change money in your home country. You’ll get a lesser exchange
  rate there then when you do in Greece.
• Do not change money in hotels, restaurants, taxi’s etc.
• Banks will give you a better exchange rate than exchange offices but they
  will charge a commission fee.
• Do not exchange more money than you will need for the next few days.

Yes, Yes, Yes
• Bring cash and keep it in the room safe or the safe at the hotel reception.
• Change just enough money at the Athens International Airport upon your arrival to pay for the
  express bus to the center of Athens (3,20 Euro per person), the metro (see fares below) or a taxi
  (not more than 30 Euro into town) as well as for any expenses you will have that day if you arrive
  in the evening (dinner, a drink etc.)
• Exchange money at exchange offices that you will find in the center of Athens and in most major
  tourist destinations.
• Exchange offices (you will find them mostly around Syntagma Square, Plaka, Omonia and
  Monastiraki) have a lower exchange rate then banks but they do not charge a commission fee
  resulting in a more favourable exchange for you than with the higher exchange rate and the
  commission fee of banks. Make sure you exchange money at commission free exchange offices;
  some do charge a commission fee. Ask before you exchange money.

Airlines

Airline		Telephone		Airline		Telephone
A3	AEGEAN AIRLINES	210 3530 101		IB	IBERIA	210 3533 441
SU	AEROFLOT	210 3531 101		IR	IRAN AIR	210 9246 573
VV	AEROSVIT AIRLINES	210 3534 020		JU	JAT-YUGOSLAV AIRLINES	210 3568 120
AB	AIR BERLIN	210 3535 264		KL	KLM	210 3568 120
AF	AIR FRANCE	210 3530 380		LO	LOT POLISH AIRLINES	210 3237 762
9U	AIR MOLDOVA	210 3530 376		LH	LUFTHANSA	210 3530 155
KM	AIR MALTA	210 3531 116		LT	LTU INTERN. AIRLINES	210 3531 242
A9	AIRZENA-GEORGIAN AIRLINES	210 9213 400		LG	LUXAIR	210 3534 276
LV	ALBANIAN AIRLINES	210 3530 376		DM	MAERSK AIR	210 3531 195
AZ	ALITALIA	210 3534 284		MA	MALEV-HUNGARIAN AIRLINES	210 3530 376
EB	ALPI EAGLES	210 3530 418		MR	MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES	210 3530 138
MV	ARMENIAN INT, AIRWAYS	210 3530 376		OA	OLYMPIC AIRLINES	210 9368 424
OS	AUSTRIAN AIRLINES	210 3533 425		PK	PIA-PAKISTAN INT. AIRLINES	210 3530 393
BA	BRITISH AIRWAYS	210 3530 453		FV	PULKOVO	210 3530 585
CY	CYPRUS AIRWAYS	210 3534 312		RJ	ROYAL JORDAN AIRLINES	210 3530 141
OK	CSA-CZECH AIRLINES	210 3531 252		SV	SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES	210 3530 376
DL	DELTA	210 3530 116		SQ	SINGAPORE AIRLINES	210 3531 259
U2	EASYJET	210 3530 585		SK	SNOWFLAKE	210 3530 585
LY	EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES	210 3531 003		LX	SWISS AIRLINES	210 3537 400
EK	EMIRATES	210 3531 173		RB	SYRIANAIR	210 3531 179
MS	EGYPT AIR	210 3531 272		RO	TAROM-ROMANIAN AIR TRANSPORT	210 3531 242
AY	FINNAIR	210 3533 717		TG	THAI AIRWAYS INTERN.	210 3531 237
ST	GERMANIA EXPRESS	210 3530 620		TU	TUNIS AIR	210 9368 120
4U	GERMANWINGS	210 3530 620		TK	TURKISH AIRLINES	210 3530 401
GF	GULF AIR	210 3220 851		TV	VIRGIN EXPRESS	210 3530 376
HF	HAPAG LLOYD	210 9409 191		VA	VOLARE	210 3530 376
T4	HELLAS JET	210 3531 815		HY	UZBEKISTAN AIR	210 9944 201
DU	HEMUS AIR	210 3531 156

Domestic flights from Athens airport

Alexandroupolis		Leros
Astypalaia		Milos
Chania		Mykonos
Chios		Mytilene
Corfu		Naxos
Heraklion		Paros
Ikaria		Preveza
Ioannina		Rhodes
Kalymnos		Samos
Karpathos		Santorini
Kastelorizo		Sitia
Kastoria		Skiathos
Kavala		Skyros
Kefallonia		Syros
Kerkyra		Thessaloniki
Kos		Thira
Lemnos		Zakynthos