Ellinikon International Airport Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ελληνικού | |||||||||||||||
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| Airport type | Closed | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Closed | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Athens | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 21 m / 68 ft | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°53′54″N 23°43′46″E / 37.89833°N 23.72944°E | ||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Ellinikon International Airport (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAT), sometimes spelled Hellinikon (in Greek Ελληνικόν) was the international airport of Athens for sixty years up until 2001 when it was replaced by Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. It is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the Greek city Elliniko (Elleniko).
The airport had two terminals; the west terminal for Olympic Airways and the east terminal for international flights. Its IATA code of ATH is now used at Eleftherios Venizelos airport. It is bounded by residential houses, beaches in the west and in the south by the wooded trees of the Glyfada Golf Club along with the Ellinikon-Glyfada municipal boundary.
After its closure to passenger traffic, the northwest portion of the airport was redeveloped, with runways being converted into a sports park that housed the venues for canoe/kayak slalom, field hockey, baseball, and softball during the 2004 Summer Olympics. Other Olympic-related upgrades to the airport included refitting one of the airport's western hangars to become the main Olympic fencing venues and one of the larger Olympic indoor basketball arenas. Although these massive upgrades changed the northern and western portions of Ellinikon, part of the runway still exists and there is a chance that it will remain in use as a general aviation airport (with a significantly reduced runway). The Athens radar center is also still based there.
Since the end of the 2004 Summer Olympics, there have been discussions about developing what remains of the old airport and its runways into an urban park in order to alleviate Athens' need for more green spaces. If this project is realized, the proposed Hellenikon Metropolitan Park would be one of the largest in Europe.
History
The airport was built in 1938 In 1963, the Finnish star architect Eero Saarinen designed the East Terminal building. Prior to closing its passenger service, the airport was serving 12 million passengers per year.
During the Cold War, the Greek government allowed the United States Air Force to use the airport from 1945 until 1993 as a staging field for Air Transport Command on flights between Rome and the Middle East and to process U.S. aid to Greece and Turkey under the Marshall Plan with cargo and transport aircraft. Known as Hassani Airport in 1945, it was used by the United States Army Air Forces as early as 1 October 1945, as abase of operations for Air Transport Command flights between Rome, Italy and points in the Middle East.
A semi-permanent USAAF presence was established in May 1947 as the facility was being reconstructed to facilitate Marshall Plan aid to Greece and Turkey. On 5 October 1948, the United States Air Force assigned the Military Air Transport Service 1632d Air Base Squadron to the airport with ten C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft being based at the airport.
A new control tower opened in 1951, and by 1954 with the end of Marshall Plan, the United States Air Forces In Europe 7206th Air Base Squadron (later Group) was assigned to the airport. Commercial airline service returned to the facility in 1956 with the airport being turned over to Greek civil aviation authorities. The airport was renamed Athenai International Airport, and the USAF used a small part of the airport for military cargo use, along with United States diplomatic air traffic.
The 7206th Air Base Group remained the primary USAF unit at the airport with the 6916th Security squadron providing electronic aerial surveillance of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East). The USAF used the airport for airlift evacuation operations from Middle East (1967), Cyprus (1975), Ethiopia (1977), and Iran (1979, 1981). The American base was renamed Hellenikon Air Base on 25 February 1976, and also provided administrative and logistical support to U.S. units and organizations in Greece, the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, and parts of Africa. 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.
In 1963, the Finnish star architect Eero Saarinen designed the East Terminal building. Prior to closing its passenger service, the airport was serving 12 million passengers per year.
Incidents
During the 1970s and 1980s, the airport was a major site for attacks relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- August 5, 1973: Two Palestinian gunmen claiming to represent Black September fire on travelers in a crowded TWA passenger lounge, killing five and wounding fifty-five.
- September 8, 1974: TWA Flight 841, en route from Ellinikon to Rome, crashed 18 minutes after take-off in what was later determined to be a bombing.
- June 27, 1976: Air France Flight 139, en route from Tel Aviv to Paris via Ellinikon, was hijacked to Benghazi and Entebbe.
- June 14, 1985: TWA Flight 847, en route from Ellinikon to Rome, was hijacked to Beirut and Algiers repeatedly.
- November 14, 1985: EgyptAir Flight 648, en route from Ellinikon to Cairo, was hijacked to Malta.
The airport was also the destination point of two attacked aircraft:
- August 29, 1969: TWA Flight 840, en route from Rome to Ellinikon, was hijacked by PFLP terrorists to Damascus.
- April 2, 1986: The same route, TWA Flight 840, also from Rome to Ellinikon, was bombed, resulting in four people being sucked out of the plane to their deaths. The plane landed safely.
See also
References
- Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
- Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799536
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
External links
- Information on Ellinikon Airport
- Photos from Ellinikon Airport at Airliners.net
- Accident history for ATH at Aviation Safety Network - List of incidents to/from Athens Airport
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