Athens' ghost airport

Athens' ghost airport

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For about six decades, Hellenikon was Athens's only airport but it was shut down in 2001 to make way for a newer, more modern airport before the Greek capital hosted the 2004 Olympics.

These days, the site appears frozen in time, its once-busy terminals littered with old boarding passes, garbage and debris. But this is soon set to change with new plans to resurrect the complex as a glitzy coastal resort.

. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Hellenikon has languished for over a decade as a wasteland of crumbling buildings and rusting airplanes.

But a 7-billion-euro plan to develop the site - a complex three times the size of Monaco – could soon transform the landscape.

The real estate project is one of Europe's most ambitious and stands to be a major boost for a nation limping back to growth after nearly going bankrupt.

But it faces criticism from the main leftist opposition and locals, both of whom fear the luxury development could turn into a concrete jungle out of reach for ordinary Greeks.

. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

To those with long memories, the Hellenikon site still conjures up its 1960s jet-set heyday when shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis ran Olympic Airlines in lavish style and his partner at the time, opera diva Maria Callas, added a dash of glamour and gossip.

But those days are long gone and, for now, the airport remains in a derelict state. Announcement boards, somewhat eerily, still proclaim flights now long flown and forgotten and passenger gates stand empty.

. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Rubbish still lies strewn on the ground at the airport after efforts by successive governments to turn the Hellenikon site into a profitable venture have all fallen through.

However, Lamda Development, controlled by Greece's powerful Latsis family and leading a consortium of Chinese and Abu-Dhabi based companies, has big dreams for the area since signing a 915 million euro deal for a 99-year lease in March.

But despite the promise of jobs and investment flowing into the economy, opposition to the plan remains high in Greece.

Greece's anti-bailout opposition Syriza party, which wants to turn the plot into a free-for-all park, has repeatedly accused the country's privatizations agency of an "unprecedented clearance sale" of state assets against the public interest.

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Slideshow

An Olympic Airways plane stands in the old Hellenikon airport.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

An Olympic Airways plane stands in the old Hellenikon airport.

An old limousine rank stands outside the east terminal.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

An old limousine rank stands outside the east terminal.

Plants grow through the concrete in front of the terminal building.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Plants grow through the concrete in front of the terminal building.

A peeling sign hangs above the old entrance for international arrivals.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

A peeling sign hangs above the old entrance for international arrivals.

Photographs hang inside a hall where a museum for Olympic Airways was set up after the closure of the airport.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Photographs hang inside a hall where a museum for Olympic Airways was set up after the closure of the airport.

Debris litters the ground in the west terminal.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Debris litters the ground in the west terminal.

An arrivals hall in the west terminal is left burnt out, its ceiling peeling from fire damage.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

An arrivals hall in the west terminal is left burnt out, its ceiling peeling from fire damage.

Olympic Airways travel tags lie behind a desk.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Olympic Airways travel tags lie behind a desk.

A photograph of an Olympic Airways aircraft is seen inside a hall which was used as a museum for the carrier.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

A photograph of an Olympic Airways aircraft is seen inside a hall which was used as a museum for the carrier.

Debris lies strewn in the “Athina Lounge”.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Debris lies strewn in the “Athina Lounge”.

A broken mirror is seen inside a women's toilet.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

A broken mirror is seen inside a women's toilet.

An announcement board displays a destination for an old flight.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

An announcement board displays a destination for an old flight.

A plane is seen through the window of an auxiliary control tower.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

A plane is seen through the window of an auxiliary control tower.

Stray dogs roam around the airport.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Stray dogs roam around the airport.

Olympic Airways planes stand on the premises.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Olympic Airways planes stand on the premises.

Barbed wire cuts across a runway at the former airport.
. ATHENS, Greece. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

Barbed wire cuts across a runway at the former airport.