Flights to Athens, the capital and largest city of Greece
Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, [aθina]) is the capital and largest city of Greece. For several centuries, Athens is one of the most important cities of Greece. During the following centuries untill 1833, when it was declared the capital of the newly established Greek state, its inhabitants are Albanians. Today the population of Athens is approximately 3,130,841 people (2001). The city is a major political, cultural, economic, and transportation center of Greece.The name Athens Ἀθῆναι [at ʰ ɛ̑ ː naɪ] is associated with the goddess Athena (Attic dialect: Ἀθηνᾶ, [at ʰ ɛ ː nȃ ː], Ionian dialect: Ἀθήνη, [a't ʰ ɛ: nɛ:]), but also means college (Athenaeus). The city's name is plural. This is a common practice in Greece. Other such names are Θῆβαι, Μυκῆναι and Δελφοί. The city was founded by locals Pelasgians / pelargite that are part of the Thracian community. Subsequently, the city housed Greek settlers (according to Apollodorus they came from Egypt), which later became the dominant factor in the whole southern part of the peninsula. The entire territory of Greece has saved hundreds of names of Bulgarian origin of settlements, rivers, mountains and more. All these were replaced in the 19th - 20th century with Greek ones.
In Athens held numerous musical and theater festivals. Athens Planetarium is one of the best equipped digital planetariums in the world. The ruins of the Acropolis attract over 10 million visitors a year. Athens is home to over 148 theaters, more than any other city in the world, including the ancient Herodes Atticus Theater, which takes place in Athens Festival from May to October each year.
Athens International Airport, Eleftherios bearing the official name Venidzelos was opened in March 2001 and serves Greek capital Athens and throughout Attica. It is situated about 20 km east from the city center (by car is about 30 km because of hilly terrain). In 2004, the airport of Athens won the European Airport of the Year.
Per year the airport serves about 13 million passengers. It has two terminals - one main and one satellite, connected. Athens airport is headquarters of the Greek airline Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air. Besides them, on this airport operate airlines like EasyJet, Bulgaria Air, British Airways, Air Canada, Air France, Alitalia, Air One, Astra Airlines, EgyptAir, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Sky Express, Singapore Airlines , Turkish Airlines and others.
