The new Athens International Airport covers an expanse of 16,000 acres (25.0 sq mi; 64.7 km2), making the facility among the largest in Europe and in the world in terms of land area.

The airport is named after Elefthérios Venizélos, the prominent Cretan political figure and Prime Minister of Greece, who made a significant contribution to the development of Greek aviation and the Hellenic Air Force in the 1930s.

[5] Currently, private investors include the Copelouzos Group (5%)[6] and PSP Investments of Canada (40%), following purchase of Hochtief's shares.

[8] Studies for a new airport had been carried out from as early as the 1970s, with as many as 19 different locations being looked at before an area close to the town of Spata was chosen as suitable.

However, after delays and slow development, the project was revived in 1991, approximately 1 year after the city lost the right to host the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta, USA and the possibility of submitting a bid for the 2000 Game was discussed.

In 2013, the airport handled just above 12.5 million passengers, 3.2% fewer than in 2012 and lower by approximately 25% when compared to 2007's traffic, which was the all-time-high at that time.

[15][16][17] Delta Air Line resumed their weekly flights and American Airlines retained their seasonal schedules to/from USA with even more frequent connectivity.

Annual results reflected a solid performance for a third year in a row fueled by double-digit growth, this time passing the twenty million mark, increased by 10.7% on year-over-year basis.

It is designed to be extended in a modular approach over the ensuing years in order to accommodate increases in air travel.

[28] The sixth and final expansion phase will allow the airport to accommodate an annual traffic of 50 million passengers, with the current layout leaving enough space for five more terminals to be added.

[8] As such, the parallel runway system currently in place has been designed to accommodate flight traffic with this high equivalent annual passenger load upon completion of the final expansion phase.

In March 2018, the Athens International Airport issued a tender for its first physical expansion, concerning the south wings of the main terminal.

It was to add 18 more counter check-in decks as well as additional space for arrivals, departures, security and an automated control gate.

The terminal is equipped with ten jet bridges and is capable of handling annual traffic of six million passengers.

However, as of June 2017, the parking space of the satellite terminal is in full use for both Schengen and non-Schengen area flights and to accommodate increased traffic.

[1] The table below shows passenger totals at Athens International Airport by country destination during 2023, and changes compared to 2022.

Athens Metro line 3 and the suburban railway service Proastiakos run trains to and from this station.