OUT OF FLIGHT
Inside the abandoned airport THREE times the size of Monaco and once used by the Nazis during WW2
Old aircraft and airport vehicles can still be seen on the site today
AN AIRPORT three times the size of Monaco and once used by the Nazis has been abandoned and left to rot since closing over 20 years ago.
The Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, served 11 million passengers a year and recorded 13.5 million passengers during its final year of operations.
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But after the new Eleftherios Venizelos airport - also known as Athens International Airport - was built for the 2004 Olympic Games, it soon closed.
The last aircraft to depart from Ellinikon was an Olympic Airways Boeing 737 bound for Thessaloníki on March 28, 2001.
However, it was soon decided that the airport would be redeveloped into a complex for Olympic events - including a stadium and sports facilities.
The northwest portion of the airport was redeveloped, containing venues for canoe and kayak slalom, field hockey, baseball, and softball.
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One of the hangars was even repurposed to become an Olympic fencing venue.
Then in 2005, a team of architects won a competition to redesign the airport and turn it into an urban park, yet plans fell through a few years later with Greek authorities.
For the next 15 years, the airport remained abandoned, unused and a shadow of what it once was.
Located four miles south of central Athens, the airport was initially built in 1938, just before the Second World War, at a time when the area was sparsely populated.
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But shortly after it opened, the Third Reich invaded Greece and after 1941, the airport served as a Luftwaffe airbase during the occupation.
In 1945, the Greek authorities had to sign an agreement with the United States Air Force that allowed them to use the airport for flights between Italy and the Middle East.
From October 1, 1945, to 1969, the airport became the Hellinikon Air Base.
A command and control centre, as well as a passenger and cargo terminal, were opened at the airport.
In 1958, the airport changed its name to Athens International Airport when its purpose was changed to civil aviation.
In 1988, however, Greece refused to renew their agreement with the US Air Force, which conducted its last operation at the airport in 1991.
Following its official closure ten years later, abandoned planes, empty hangars, overgrown runways and crumbling infrastructure formed part of the huge eyesore that was once a major international airport.
Old aircraft and airport vehicles can still be seen on the site today.
Almost everything remains, besides the people, although a camp was set up on the site for immigrants and refugees.
However, the former Ellinikon International Airport is now the site of a major development for coastal Athens - the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park.
Construction began in 2020, where a complex consisting of luxury homes, hotels, a casino, the Inspire Athens tower, a marina, shops, and offices is estimated to be completed by 2025.
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It is hoped that the construction of the park will contribute to the overall economy of Greece in the future.
Bordered by beaches, the Glyfada Golf Club, the Elliniko-Glyfada municipal boundary, and a residential area, there is plenty to suggest that this area can get back to what it once was.
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