Greece’s leading airline carrier Aegean has welcomed its first guests to the brand-new Business Lounge, located at the extra Schengen area of Athens International Airport.
The new 1250sqm lounge has been designed to enhance passengers’ travel experience with unique aesthetics, functionality, comfort, and hospitality through state-of-the-art technology and upgraded services.
The modern space, which marks the airline’s fresh start to the 2022 tourist season, has been inspired by traditional Greek architecture and was designed by leading Greek architecture firm K-Studio. Featuring marble, terrazzo, glass and wood, it offers a contemporary and comfortable environment for guests to make the most of the new media lounge, social lounge, and quiet lounge; as well as the meeting rooms, two cafeterias and a restaurant alongside a wine bar.
“As the new Aegean Business Lounge is aiming to serve as a platform to promote Greekness, all warm and cold dishes as well as wines offered, come mainly from fine Greek producers,” announced Aegean.
The new Business Lounge will be open to all Business Class and Miles+Bonus Gold passengers, as well as to members of the Star Alliance network, where they will have the opportunity to experience all of Aegean’s unique services.
Athens took home the award for Best International Airport 2021 in the ’25-40 million passengers’ category at the annual Best Airport Awards held by ACI Europe.
Winners were announced at a Conference Dinner of the 31st ACI EUROPE Annual Congress and General Assembly, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Best Airport Awards recognise excellence and outstanding achievement across the entire portfolio of airport activities. This year’s 17thedition of the celebrated accolades focused on the many ways in which airports are not only responding but innovating during the COVID-19 pandemic while focusing on the airport industry’s sustainability goals.
Athens’ ‘Eleftherios Venizelos’ International Airport
“The busiest airport in Greece won the judges over by producing a plan for recovery that focuses on improving customer and passenger experience through the implementation of the Greek concept of ‘philoxenia’ or hospitality,” announced ACI Europe.
The judges particularly liked the way Athens Airport embraces AI and virtual reality (such as measuring passengers’ emotional engagement, offering a virtual assistant and a 3D virtual airport tour) in its bid to bring passenger experience to the next level.
The judging panel also highlighted the airport’s continued carbon management prowess, with ‘Airport Carbon Accreditation’ Level 3+ upheld in spite of the ongoing crisis. Furthermore, Athens Airport is not only committed to achieving Net Zero CO2 emissions by 2025 but also to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, the airport’s efforts to increase the use of renewable energy at the airport was praised.
The judging panel comprised representatives from the European Commission, EUROCONTROL, SESAR Joint Undertaking, International Transport Forum and ECAC. Eco-Innovation Award submissions were held to scrutiny by the Advisory Board of ‘Airport Carbon Accreditation’, and the Accessible Airport winner was identified with the help of the European Disability Forum.
Winners in All Categories
Under 5 million Passengers
Romania’s Cluj Avram Iancu International Airport.
Toulon-Hyères Airport was highly commended in this category.
5-10 Million Passengers
Falcone Borsellino Palermo Airport.
Milan Linate Airport was highly commended in this category.
10-25 Million Passengers
Vnukovo International Airport.
Porto Airport was highly commended in this category.
25-40 Million Passengers
Athens International Airport.
Lisbon Airport was highly commended in this category.
Over 40 Million Passengers
iGA Istanbul Grand Airport.
Barcelona and Madrid Airports were highly commended for this Award.
Athens International Airport (AIA) has been named as one of six international finalists for a prestigious global architecture award.
AIA has been shortlisted by the world judges Panel of Prix Versailles, which recognises innovation, creativity, a reflection of local heritage, and energy efficiency, and has been nominated as a finalist in the distinguished Prix Versailles Awards, a set of annual international architectural prizes given by the French World Prix Versailles Organisation.
Design by Tombazis & Associates & AVW Architects
The airport also named “Eleftherios Venizelos” has been nominated for its expansion of South Wing in the category of World Selection of Prix Versailles Airports 2021.
The extension of the South Wing structure to the existing AIA Main Terminal Building was designed by leading architects Tombazis & Associates and AVW Architects. This was an important project as it’s one of the first experiences visitors have when landing in Athens and also one of the last as they leave.
What makes the architectural project so unique is the exterior surface of the building cell, which is highlighted by the element of the louvers, that rotate progressively, revealing views from and to the building. Although the louvers have fixed positions, the building gives the sense of movement and changes in view, as someone moves closer or further away. At night, the extension transforms into a lighthouse for the landing planes.
AIA’s South Wing expansion
AIA is up against an $8 billion upgrade at New York’s La Guardia Airport, Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport, New Zealand’s New Plymouth revamp, Kazakhstan’s Hazrat Sultan International Airport, and the Philippines’ Clark International Airport.
The winners of the Prix Versailles Airports 2021 will be named at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris in November.
