AIA

Drawing on the direct air links between Athens, the capital of Greece, and Beijing and Shanghai in China, Athens International Airport (AIA) is counting on a return of the number of Chinese arrivals in Greece to pre-pandemic levels soon.

State sell-off fund TAIPED is expecting very strong investor interest in the sale of a 30 percent stake in Athens International Airport.

More than five bidders are seen tabling non-binding offers by next Tuesday's deadline, with market sources speaking of as many as eight suitors, although nothing can be taken for granted yet.

The government's Economic Policy Council on Wednesday unblocked the process for the sale of a 30 percent stake in Athens International Airport, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Athens International Airport shareholders will have to pay dearly to get the 20-year extension of the airport's concession, but a deal to that effect is within sight.

Athens is rapidly growing as a tourism destination in itself rather than simply a transit point for foreign tourists heading to the islands, according to figures revealed on Wednesday by Aegean Air and Athens International Airport at the ITB international travel fair in Berlin.

Brussels bureaucracy has led to the 20-year contract extension of Athens International Airport grinding to a halt. The completion of the transaction has not only failed to meet the original deadline of end-2017, but it will also require another four or five months.

Canada-based PSP International is asking, in a quite discreet fashion, for the process to extend the agreement for the operation of the Athens International Airport to continue, after having stalled for a lengthy period.

Banking giant HSBC announced the appointment of a new chairman on March 13 as part of a management overhaul which will also see it choose a new CEO, after a massive drop in profits in 2016.

British businessman Mark Tucker will take over from current chairman Douglas Flint in October. Tucker is currently group chief executive and president of insurance group AIA.

The government will have to proclaim a tender for the sale of 30 percent of Athens International Airport by March, according to the draft supplementary memorandum of understanding that the creditors have submitted to Athens to close the second bailout review.

The Athens International Airport’s previous campaign that promoted Athens was such a success that more of the same is offered through a new campaign aimed at promoting Athens as an international destination in 2016. This time, the campaign is titled “Speak AΘenian. Be an AΘenian”.