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Athens International Airport "Hellinikon"

History

Ellinikon International Airport (sometimes spelled "Hellinikon") was the international airport of Athens, Greece for sixty years up until 2001, when it was replaced by the new Athens International Airport. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The IATA code was ATH (now in use for Eleftherios Venizelos Airport) and the ICAO code was LGAT. The airport had two terminals; the west terminal for Olympic Airways and the east terminal for international flights and the other Greek airlines. An additional terminal was built to the former US Air Force Base to serve the charter flights.

The airport was built in 1938, and after the Nazi invasion of Greece in 1941, Kalamaki Airfield was used as a Luftwaffe air base during the occupation. Following the end of World War II, the Greek government allowed the United States to use the airport from 1945 until 1993. Known as Hassani Airport in 1945, it was used by the United States Army Air Forces as early as 1 October 1945, as a base of operations for Air Transport Command flights between Rome, Italy and points in the Middle East. In 1963, the Finnish star architect Eero Saarinen designed the East Terminal building.

With the end of the Cold War, it was agreed to end the USAF presence at the airport and the United States closed its facilities in 1993.

Prior to the closure of passenger traffic the airport was serving 12 million passengers per year.

The main runway was the 15L/33R and the secondary runway 15R/33L was mainly used as a taxiway for Olympic Airways’ aircrafts.

LGAT was one of the most popular airports for planespotters worldwide due to the rarity of its movements. Its geographical position was identical for ferry flights, technical stops, refueling etc. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the new CIS airlines to appear at ATH were innumerous. LGAT’s closure was a huge loss for all planespotters.