Greek aviation officials have at last started to release slots and aircraft parking positions for business aviation traffic heading for next month’s Athens Olympic Games–months after busting their own deadlines for filing landing requests. At the new Athens International Airport, some 50 parking spaces have been set aside for head-of-state aircraft. Some of these positions are expected to be released for corporate use–with official Olympic sponsors being given preference–but it is still unclear when and how this will happen.
Local FBOs only last month started getting confirmation of which alternate airports their corporate clients will be able to use, having filed landing requests, as requested by the Greek government, before the end of January. Many business aircraft crews will be dropping off their passengers in Athens, before repositioning to airports such as Mikonos and Limnos to park during their company’s visit to the games.
