Best Airports of Eastern Europe: The Nominations

[IlliricumSacrum]

Just wandering,

Is Eleftheiros Venizelos state owned and on BOOT Concession to Hochtief or is Hochtief the owner of the major shares?

By the way this is pointless IMO, cause this is a winner for now. Even technically, nothing in EE can beat it.

[thebackdoorman]

Just curius, maybe Istanbul has a good airport to challenge Venizelos. Until now Venizelos does get my vote!

[Geroplatanos]

Originally Posted by thebackdoorman

Just curius, maybe Istanbul has a good airport to challenge Venizelos. Until now Venizelos does get my vote!

Ataturk International Airport is also a nice , big and modern airport .Perhaps a disadvantage is that is is an expansion of the old airport . Venizelos is a completely new airport.
Anyway its up to all of you forumers to choose what you like , perhaps some friends from Turkey would post some photos !

[Geroplatanos]

Originally Posted by IlliricumSacrum

Just wandering,

Is Eleftheiros Venizelos state owned and on BOOT Concession to Hochtief or is Hochtief the owner of the major shares?

By the way this is pointless IMO, cause this is a winner for now. Even technically, nothing in EE can beat it.

Dear Illiricum i think the info bellow answers to your question :

The Airport Company

AIA is considered a pioneer international Public-Private Partnership of its type in the world, being the first major greenfield airport constructed with the participation of the private sector. 'Athens International Airport S.A.' is the company responsible for the operation, management and development of the airport for a 30-year concession period initiated in 1996. 'Athens International Airport S.A.' is a privately managed company, with the Greek State holding 55% of shares, while the private shareholders collectively hold 45% [HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH: 26.545%, HOCHTIEF AirPort Capital GmbH: 13.33%, Horizon Air Investments S.A.: 5%, and Flughafen Athen-Spata Projektgesellschaft mbH (FASP): 0.125% stake].

[IlliricumSacrum]

Originally Posted by Geroplatanos

Dear Illiricum i think the info bellow answers to your question :

The Airport Company

AIA is considered a pioneer international Public-Private Partnership of its type in the world, being the first major greenfield airport constructed with the participation of the private sector. 'Athens International Airport S.A.' is the company responsible for the operation, management and development of the airport for a 30-year concession period initiated in 1996. 'Athens International Airport S.A.' is a privately managed company, with the Greek State holding 55% of shares, while the private shareholders collectively hold 45% [HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH: 26.545%, HOCHTIEF AirPort Capital GmbH: 13.33%, Horizon Air Investments S.A.: 5%, and Flughafen Athen-Spata Projektgesellschaft mbH (FASP): 0.125% stake].

Thnx Gero

@thebackdoorman: Istanbul is good but far from competing with Eleftheiros Venizelos. The guys did a great job and since 2001 that airport rocks. I have transfered through it 2 times and I am quite sattisfied. The best in EE for sure.

And Gero, what is Thesaloniki airport like? Does it recieve good enough traffic? I know a lot of Albanians travel there.

[Geroplatanos]

Originally Posted by lakerdar123

wait Eleftherios Venizelos airport was built in 2001 i thought that other airport in the middle of athens was the new one.

Lakerdar the airport started operation in March 2001.
Unfortunatelly the contract said that there should not be any other major airport in a distance of 60Km , so the old Hellenikon airport (beside the sea, south suburbs of Athens) had to close.

[Sergei]

^ The Best of EE is for today. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

So, any renderings for future development will not be used in the poll, because it would be unfair to sway people based on something that's not even built yet.

But feel free to post future renderings in this thread, to discuss, show off, whatever.

[Geroplatanos]

Originally Posted by Sergei

^ The Best of EE is for today. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

So, any renderings for future development will not be used in the poll, because it would be unfair to sway people based on something that's not even built yet.

But feel free to post future renderings in this thread, to discuss, show off, whatever.

Of course Sergei!
I just posted some info for illiricum and for showing , not for the poll!

[Sergei]

Originally Posted by Geroplatanos

Of course Sergei!
I just posted some info for illiricum and for showing , not for the poll!

Ok, cool! The rendering IS very nice! Good luck with it!

[thebackdoorman]

In the night, the airports look nice but in the day not so much. I guess its all that asphalt which givers off a grey feeling. I remember people used to complain about noise on the old airport in Athens? Are there any similar problems. I agree with what you said that the Athens airport has the advantage of being a new one. The roads surrounding it seem impressive and there is a rail connection. Everything seems to go the airports way.

[thebackdoorman]

Istanbul also looks nice, however isn't a little bit too close to the city?

[edolen1]

Will we even have enough nominations for a 5-choice poll?

[lindenthaler]

Originally Posted by edolen1

Will we even have enough nominations for a 5-choice poll?

I will sugest Sergei to change rules for less than 11-12 nominations everyone should choose 3, for 10-15 nominations 5 choosing possibilities.

[Geroplatanos]

Illiricum you are right...
Always we should be carefull with comparisons .
For obvious reasons large airports of big european/asian/america cities are generally in another category.
I think that the category for the majority of EE/SE airports is this of under 20,000,000 passengers per year.
From the photos that the other friends in the forum have posted , i like the 3 (obviously new?) airports of Poznan , Kosice and Riga.
Kosice i like more from the three although it seems a smaller airport , but the other three are nice too.
Belgrade perhaps is a bit old but it seems quite big , perhaps with some renovation of the main terminals would look better!
How about the new terminal of Sofia airport? Perhaps 3tmk can post some photos.
Or what about the Prague new airport?
There are still some airports to see...

[KONSTANTINOUPOLIS]

More Eleftherios Venizelos:



Airport interchange



Airport south gate interchange



Metro + Suburban train station







Various pics

[mic of Orion]

Poznan gets my 100% vote, it is small but very cute airport, very nice design and built to impress in my opinion. I am, impressed :-)

[lindenthaler]

Originally Posted by mic of Orion

Poznan gets my 100% vote, it is small but very cute airport, very nice design and built to impress in my opinion. I am, impressed :-)

Could you post some Cro Airports ? I remember Split and Dubrovnik were very nice

[mic of Orion]

Originally Posted by Stevan

Could you post some Cro Airports ? I remember Split and Dubrovnik were very nice

Okies Stevan,

I am not particular fan of Split or any current Croatian Airport, they are small, crowded and insufficient to there needs and requirements, many are overcrowded and at there max capacity, Pula and Zadar being exceptions, Pula can handle 1.2 million and currently handles in region of 300 000, and Zadar has crossed 120 000 mark but has an terminal with capacity of 500 000 passengers.

Split Airport






Split and Dubrovnik are definitely getting expanded next year, Dubrovnik will be doubled at cost of 20 million Euros and should look ok, also airport will get its first air bridges some 8 are planed for Dubrovnik. Split in other had is so small it is ridicules, it has absolute maximum capacity of 1.2 million passengers, and it is already nearing this figures and getting very crowded.

Zadar Airport



Dubrovnik Airport - Pictures taken in 2000 after construction of the terminal




Zagreb Airport has gone 360 degrees and will construct completely new airport terminal with 12-15 air bridges and capacity up to 8 million, although 3 million is first stage target by 2010.

Zagreb Airport




Osijek Airport, - very small airport handled 32 000 passengers last year....


Brac Airport New Terminal, - Brac handled 52 000 passengers in 2004. New terminal should handle a lot more as cappacity is 100 000.

[Kuvvaci]

ATATURK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT- ISTANBUL























































































METRO STATION OF THE AIRPORT

[teeter]

Its no competition to the likes of Istanbul or Athens airports, but it is a cute brand new airport. Last year, it serviced 350,000 passengers, and has a combination of tunnel and walkway airport accomodations. Here are a few pictures.

Passport Control




Tarmac View











Terminal















Check In/Rentals





Passenger Entrance