REPORT BY COLIN BAKER IN ATHENS
Athens has a new airport built and operated by a private-public partnership. But there are still questions over the role that the new facility will play
Eleftherios Venizelos, the new Athens international airport, had been attracting plenty of attention even before it opened for business at the end of March. In part, interest has focused on the role of Hochtief in this greenfield project. In partnership with the Greek Government, the German construction giant was active in both the building and management of the airport, through its subsidiary HochTief AirPort. Such private-public partnerships are still a new concept in Europe's airport sector and certainly for a project of this scale.
As has become with any new airport project, the opening of Athens has been in the limelight from the outset and not all of the publicity has been welcome. Well before the opening, a somewhat unseemly rush to complete road links and a chaotic first 72 hours generated plenty of negative media coverage. Most users agree, however, that after the initial three-day period there has been a significant improvement. "The important thing is that it kept going" says professor Rigas Doganis, a senior aviation consultant and a former chairman of flag carrier Olympic Airways. He adds that by comparison the opening problems at Athens were not as acute as those at other airports in recent years.
Construction of the airport itself was due to be completed in February 2001, but was finished five months ahead of schedule. The airport authorities were keen to bring the opening forward four weeks to the beginning of March in order to catch the start of the summer season. IATA however, was not happy with this idea. Director general Pierre Jeanniot raised the spectre of the initial chaos at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok as a textbook example of how not to open an airport. "Let's not repeat these bad experiences," he warned, citing road access and the completion of support facilities as particular concerns at Athens.
The Greek Government eventually agreed to put the start date back to 28 March, citing "the non-availability of the road" as a key factor.
Even with this postponement, the first three days saw a breakdown of the baggage handling system, snaking check-in queues, and a mad rush to ensure that the roads into town actually did go into town. Even now, it is difficult to find anyone who is confident that the metro link to the centre of Athens will be finished in time for the games.
Opening rush
"There is a very good chance it will be ready for the Olympics," says Yiannis Paraschis, chief business development officer for the airport, although he himself does not sound completely convinced. Antonis Simigdales, chief operating officer at regional Aegean Airlines, warns: "We have to make it by 2004. There will be problems if we don't. We have to get our act together."
Road links to Athens and to the staff facilities near the old airport are also a concern, with rush hour journeys taking well in excess of the 55-minutes estimated journey time from the airport to the centre of town. The airport was built well away from the existing road systems, requiring a new highway into Athens, which is partly operational but has not been completed, petering out around the edge of the city. So far, 2003 is talked about as a possible completion date. Again, it is crucial this is ready by the time of the Olympic Games.
In the airport itself, a breakdown in the baggage handling system was a particular and familiar problem. "There always seem to be problems with this. I'm not sure why," Paraschis says with a resigned smile. Doganis suggests that the absence of video display monitors in the baggage handling control centre was somewhat of a handicap. Although the airport authorities are blamed for some of the problems, home carrier Olympic Airways also takes a lot of flak. Paraschis points out that Olympic had its own terminal at the old airport, while the new facility effectively houses all carriers under one roof This, combined with the introduction of new technologies, was a major cause of the difficulties, he says.
The problems, which Paraschis points out are all too familiar for new airport projects, have left some asking why airports insist on all-in-one moves. Doganis, for instance, argues it would have made more sense to move the charter flights first, as there is no inter-lining with these flights. Paraschis though, claims that "the problems would have been there even with a gradual transfer".
Olympic position
Olympic is also central to the airport's hopes of boosting its regional hub status, but in its current calamitous state these ambitions look, well, ambitious. While Paraschis argues that the spare capacity on offer is a major bonus for transfer traffic, which currently accounts for around 25% of volume, Doganis states bluntly: "Hubs don't depend on the airport. They depend on the airline."
For the time being at least, this means depending on Olympic. "Clearly in the present crisis this is suicidal," claims one seasoned observer, "but in the long term it does have potential." However, he adds that "landing fees are very high and for hub operations landing fees are crucial". A few limited fee reductions have been agreed in the wake of 11 September but overall the airport's charges remain high in comparison to key competitors such as those in Milan and Rome.
Olympic remains in serious financial trouble, and it is widely agreed that the carrier will have to cut services if it is to have any chance of restarting its stalled privatisation, or, indeed, of ensuring its long-term survival This has obvious implications, especially for connecting traffic, at the new airport.
Paraschis claims that Athens "has the highest frequencies to the USA and South-East Asia from this part of the world". He is keen to attract feeder traffic from the Near East and also sees potential in the former Soviet Union. He is also bullish on the prospects for increased hub traffic if Olympic (or its replacement) should end up in a global alliance, which suggests increased feed into a major northwest European hub. "As far as the big European hubs go, it is not all one-way traffic," he says.
Doganis says that possible targets for feeder traffic could be the regional airports in the Middle East as well as cities such as Damascus and Beruit, which, he says, are poorly served when it comes to Europe.
He also picks out Johannesburg as an opportunity for traffic, but warns that Olympic's long-haul routes from Athens to South-East Asia and Australia are "not viable". Far from attracting feeder traffic, he believes they should be dropped completely. As it happens, Olympic has recently dropped one of its three weekly flights to Australia.
Aegean's Simigdales also argues that the traffic rights policy of the Greek Government is holding back the airport's potential. Most Greek bilaterals cite Olympic as the designated carrier, which Simigdales says holds back the likes of Aegean - which recently took over Athens-based European short-haul specialist Cronus Airlines - from developing its international network.
Of course, a dramatic collapse at Olympic along the lines of Swissair or Sabena would hurt the airport badly, although Paraschis is confident that Axon Airlines and Aegean (with Cronus) would quickly fill any gaps. "There is enough expertise and know-how to pick up traffic," he says.
Apart from its high charges and the uncertain future of Olympic, Doganis picks out another hindrance to the airport's hub plans: its design. The airport is basically an elongated rectangle with air bridges on one side and a road on the other. Doganis is critical of this "very old design" which he says increases transfer times for passengers who may have to walk the length of the terminal. "Minimum connection times are undermined," he complains.
Dimitrios Gatoris, head of the Athens Airport division at Hochtief AirPort, defends the linear design: "The walking times are no longer than in other major airports." He adds: "The transfer time is mainly dependent on the intelligent stand and gate allocation and it is therefore mainly an operational issue."
After its initial teething problems, there is no doubt that the new facility is a massive improvement on the old airport. Whether it means a significant increase in transfer traffic for Athens depends to a large extent on events at Olympic. With the success of the proposed privatisation far from certain, and industry observers in wide agreement that it will need to downsize to survive, there is uncertainty surrounding future traffic projections. Only time will tell if the airport's ambitious regional hub aspirations become reality.
Source: Airline Business
