Anyone who has flown to Athens over the past 14 years will have landed in Eleftherios Venizelos airport.
However, until 2001, another hub was the main airport of the Greek capital. It was abandoned unceremoniously.
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Hellinikon is located 4.3 miles south of Athens and was the only international airport in the city for decades.
It was built in 1930s. The airport was used as a station by the Luftwaffe during Nazi occupation of Greece.
During the Second World War, it was often attacked by the Allies Air Forces.
Later, it was redeveloped as Athens’ main airport for commercial travel.
It served as a transport hub in Greece for half a century, but it was finally closed in 2001 when it became unfit to meet the country’s travel requirements.
Although the airport was intended to handle 10 million passengers annually, it served 13 million people in its last year of operation.
Eleftherios Venizelos opened another airport in 2001, and Hellinikon was closed that month.
A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium complex and hosted several sporting events at the 2004 Olympic Games.
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However, the site’s further development caused divisions among the people in charge. Before the 2008 economic crash, however, the site remained unchanged.
The airport is still home to abandoned planes belonging to defunct airline Olympic Airways. A disused runway can also be seen. Google Maps.
In 2014, the site was bought by a group of investors who started work to transform it into an entertainment and hotel resort.
However, developers were stopped by many obstacles. The site was to be used to host refugees during Europe’s migrant crisis. Tents were placed throughout the buildings that had been abandoned.
The final phase of the transformation was begun in 2020. The Greek government plans to complete it by 2025.
The site where the airport is located is three times as large as Monaco. It borders beaches and a club which make it an ideal place to attract tourists.
Developers won’t have full access to the site. However, some buildings on the property, including the east terminal will be listed and prohibited from demolition.
An abandoned London airport was once the sole international flight hub in the UK.
This abandoned airport in UK was left for over a decade.
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