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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
CHAPTER 1
REPORTING BY THE BoD TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
OF THE SHAREHOLDERS
Dear Sirs,
It is a pleasure to welcome you today to the 14th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Athens International
Airport S.A., during which we shall review the year 2009.
According to article 43a, paragraph 3 of Codified Law (C.L.) 2190/1920, as this was replaced by article 35 of Presidential
Decree (P.D.) 409/1986, we submit herewith to your General Assembly the Company’s Financial Statements for its 14th
financial period. The present report includes the analysis of these statements and any supplementary information
necessary or useful for the statements’ appreciation and approval by the General Assembly, according to the proposal
of the Board of Directors.
2009 was another year of worldwide financial recession and turmoil for the global aviation market, characterised by IATA
as the worst ever for the airline industry. Global passenger demand was down by 3% compared to 2008, while Europe
was the continent that suffered the sharpest decline, with an average -6% drop. In the mean time, the Greek aviation
market entered a new era with the suspension of operation of Olympic Airlines and the launch of operations of the
privatized Olympic Air, albeit with a significantly reduced international network.
Despite the challenging industry conditions and the Athens’ specific adverse market developments, Athens International
Airport achieved a satisfactory end-year result outperforming most of its European counterparts, with the number of
flights recording a significant growth (210,000 flights, +5.4%), and passenger traffic witnessing a marginal loss (16.2
million passengers, -1.5%).
The solid revenue stream from both aeronautical and non-aeronautical activities, and the reinforced cost control that was
applied in 2009, were the key contributors to AIA’s profits in 2009, further enhanced by extraordinary profits through
the release of impairment provisions recorded in previous years and the recognition of interest revenues based on the
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) Decision regarding Olympic Group debts. The Company recorded Profit
Before Tax of €264.5 million and a distribution of €168.0 million as dividend to its shareholders is proposed.
1. Traffic Highlights
As previously mentioned, AIA’s traffic for the year 2009 amounted to 210,000 flights (+5.4% vs. 2008) and 16.2 million
passengers (-1.5% vs. 2008), well above the major European airports’ average (-7% in terms of flights and -6% in terms
of passengers).
These results were mostly driven by the favourable evolution of the domestic market, which, with 6.1 million passengers
(+5.2%) in 2009, recorded a historical record, mainly due to the strong dynamics of the domestic carriers, registering an
increase both in flights and capacity; the dynamic entry of Athens Airways - a new Greek carrier - in the domestic market in
February 2009 played also an important role to this positive development. On the contrary, the international sector, largely
affected by the global economic conditions as well as by the significant restructuring of Olympic’s network on the basis of
the downsizing agreed with the EU as part of the privatization process, experienced a decline of 5.1%, with 10.1 million
passengers. All international markets experienced traffic decrease in terms of passenger volumes, with the Middle East (-1.2%)
and Western Europe (-2.8%) suffering the least traffic drop–largely supported by the considerable increase in the number of
Financial Statements as at 31 December 2009 (Amounts in Euros unless otherwise stated) PAGE 4 OF 69
CHAPTER 1
REPORTING BY THE BoD TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
OF THE SHAREHOLDERS
Dear Sirs,
It is a pleasure to welcome you today to the 14th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Athens International
Airport S.A., during which we shall review the year 2009.
According to article 43a, paragraph 3 of Codified Law (C.L.) 2190/1920, as this was replaced by article 35 of Presidential
Decree (P.D.) 409/1986, we submit herewith to your General Assembly the Company’s Financial Statements for its 14th
financial period. The present report includes the analysis of these statements and any supplementary information
necessary or useful for the statements’ appreciation and approval by the General Assembly, according to the proposal
of the Board of Directors.
2009 was another year of worldwide financial recession and turmoil for the global aviation market, characterised by IATA
as the worst ever for the airline industry. Global passenger demand was down by 3% compared to 2008, while Europe
was the continent that suffered the sharpest decline, with an average -6% drop. In the mean time, the Greek aviation
market entered a new era with the suspension of operation of Olympic Airlines and the launch of operations of the
privatized Olympic Air, albeit with a significantly reduced international network.
Despite the challenging industry conditions and the Athens’ specific adverse market developments, Athens International
Airport achieved a satisfactory end-year result outperforming most of its European counterparts, with the number of
flights recording a significant growth (210,000 flights, +5.4%), and passenger traffic witnessing a marginal loss (16.2
million passengers, -1.5%).
The solid revenue stream from both aeronautical and non-aeronautical activities, and the reinforced cost control that was
applied in 2009, were the key contributors to AIA’s profits in 2009, further enhanced by extraordinary profits through
the release of impairment provisions recorded in previous years and the recognition of interest revenues based on the
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) Decision regarding Olympic Group debts. The Company recorded Profit
Before Tax of €264.5 million and a distribution of €168.0 million as dividend to its shareholders is proposed.
1. Traffic Highlights
As previously mentioned, AIA’s traffic for the year 2009 amounted to 210,000 flights (+5.4% vs. 2008) and 16.2 million
passengers (-1.5% vs. 2008), well above the major European airports’ average (-7% in terms of flights and -6% in terms
of passengers).
These results were mostly driven by the favourable evolution of the domestic market, which, with 6.1 million passengers
(+5.2%) in 2009, recorded a historical record, mainly due to the strong dynamics of the domestic carriers, registering an
increase both in flights and capacity; the dynamic entry of Athens Airways - a new Greek carrier - in the domestic market in
February 2009 played also an important role to this positive development. On the contrary, the international sector, largely
affected by the global economic conditions as well as by the significant restructuring of Olympic’s network on the basis of
the downsizing agreed with the EU as part of the privatization process, experienced a decline of 5.1%, with 10.1 million
passengers. All international markets experienced traffic decrease in terms of passenger volumes, with the Middle East (-1.2%)
and Western Europe (-2.8%) suffering the least traffic drop–largely supported by the considerable increase in the number of
Financial Statements as at 31 December 2009 (Amounts in Euros unless otherwise stated) PAGE 4 OF 69
