Athens International Airport (ΑΙΑ) Eleftherios Venizelos has reportedly reached a net profit of 140.05 million euros in 2017, over eight million euros more than 2016’s 132.4 million.
Moreover, operational revenues reached 433.5 million euros, up by 6.61 per cent compared to 2016, attributed mainly to the increase in passenger traffic and improved commercial sales.
A dividend to shareholders will not be issued, however, citing an extension of the current concession contract with the Greek state binding AIA over €1.35bn, Naftemporiki reports.
Greece’s busiest airport still needs to make up for the €79.9m fee the Greek state imposed on 2016 for “airport improvement and development”.
Meanwhile, profits from duty-free shopping across Greece are also seeing an increase. Most purchases linked with a return of VAT for consumers visiting from non-EU countries – continued to post an annual growth rate of roughly 20 per cent, in terms of value of transactions, and up to 30 per cent over the Jan-July 2018 period.
Surprisingly, even though profits from the tax-free shopping sector in Greece are increasing year-round, the same does not happen to the average daily spending per tourist which has dropped a whopping 25 per cent, compared to 2016. On average, a tourist woulds spend €50 in 2017, €70 down from the previous year.
Based on a report released by Global Blue Hellas, Chinese and US nationals comprise nearly half of the total number of tax free shopping sales in the country.