Athens International Airport Awarded Fastest Growing Airlines for 2023

Focusing on the art of strategy with the Athens International Airport, the global airport industry, as well as the wider aviation sector “chessboard” looking ahead, the airport’s Airline Marketing Workshop was staged again this year, in the presence of more than 200 attendees.

Titled “Let’s make the right move”, AIA’s 2.3 Airline Marketing Workshop took industry professionals to the world of the ultimate strategy game, which is no other than chess, inviting the Athens Airport Community to continue collectively making… “the right move”.

Once again this year, distinguished guest speakers from the fields of aviation, tourism and economy, state-of-the-art technology and digital transformation, turned the eyes of the audience to the strategic decision – making and to the challenges ahead.

Beyond the areas of the aviation and the economy chain, a special moment of this year’s Workshop was when chess legend Garry Kasparov guided the audience to the “heart” of this year’s Conference, the Art of Strategic Thinking.

With a wide range of topics, as every year, the synthesis of the speakers and the fields they dealt with, unfolded as follows:

The Introduction, the “Arbiter’s Call” as in chess, was as every year made by Mrs. Ioanna Papadopoulou, Director, Communications & Marketing, AIA, followed by the 2023 Athens Market Overview & Outlook – “Τower’s Pawn Opening” AIA Airline Marketing & Development TeamState of the European Airport Industry – “The European Master’s Move” by Mr. Olivier Jankovec, Director General ACI Europe

Experiencing Athens: Visitors’ Satisfaction Assessment 2023 – “The Athenian Gambit” by Mrs. Maripola Kotsi, Head, Market Insights & Customer Experience, AIA, and Mr. Stefan Merkenhof, GBR Consulting

Tourism & Travel Market Strategy – 2024 & Beyond – “The Tourism Game”, a discussion with Mr. Dimitris Fragakis, Secretary General, Greek National Tourism Organization, moderated by journalist Mrs. Lila Kountourioti

Long Haul market Challenges & Opportunities: The Norse Atlantic Airways Case – “The Norse System”, a discussion with Mr. Bjørn Tore Larsen, CEO, Norse Atlantic Airways, moderated by Mrs. Ioanna Papadopoulou, Director, Communications & Marketing, AIA

The Workshop Talks- “King side castling talks”

Digital transformation: increasing the odds of success, presented by Dr. Jan Siewert, Senior Manager Digital Transformation, AviAlliance

Enontekiö Airport, a unique case of airport operations, by Mr. Marko Halla, CEO / Airport Manager, Enontekiö Airport

IPO – “AIA’s Legendary Move”:

– Opening Address by Mr. Michail Kefalogiannis, Chairman of the Board of Directors, AIA

– “Public Markets in 2024 & Beyond: The ATHEX Group case” – a discussion with Mrs. Violeta Spyropoulou, President, CFA Society Greece, and Mr. Yianos Kontopoulos, CEO, Athens Exchange Group, moderated by Mr. Eleftheriou Georgios, Manager, Investor Relations, AIAMaking the Right Move: The Art of Strategic Thinking – “The Scholar’s Mate”, Mr. Garry Kasparov, Former World Chess Champion/ Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation; Author and Public Speaker

The Workshop’s programme was concluded with the Closing Remarks and a “Check Mate” message of Mr. Yiannis Paraschis, Managing Director (CEO) of Athens International Airport, who referred to the outstanding results of the previous year, and to the exceptional cooperation across the entire Athens airport community in 2023, with the airport managing to significantly exceed not only the performance of 2022, but also to surpass the previous record of the pre-pandemic year 2019. In the context of his highlights of international challenges, among which geopolitical volatility and digital transformation, Mr. Paraschis placed special emphasis again this year to the major issue of the environment, elaborating on the next goals of the Athens International Airport to win the big bet of sustainability.

The Workshop included, as every year, the annual AIA awards presented to the airlines with the most successful development in 2023. Athens International Airport once again awarded the airlines that recorded the fastest growth during the previous year, recording significant growth rates and increased passenger traffic on their scheduled services to and from Athens.