Inside Athens' ghost airport

For about six decades, Hellenikon was Athens' only airport but it closed down in 2001 to make way for a newer, more modern airport before the city hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

After languishing for years as a wasteland of crumbling terminals, Hellenikon is set for resurrection as a glitzy coastal resort.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

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. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

But those days are long gone and the project faces criticism now 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. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

Efforts by successive governments in recent years to turn the 620-hectare (1,520 acre) plot into a profitable venture have all fallen through, including plans in 2011 to build a financial district similar to London's Canary Wharf with Qatari backing.

The Gulf state pulled out of the project last year. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

The Lamda group hopes to turn Hellenikon into a prime seaside resort with hotels, a kilometer-long beach, a marina and a park bigger than London's Hyde Park. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

For about six decades, Hellenikon was Athens's only airport. Built in 1938, it was used by the Luftwaffe during the wartime German occupation and later by the United States Air Force.

One of its terminals was designed by Eero Saarinen, one of the pioneers of the "neo-futurist" style of the 1960s. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

These days the airport appears frozen in time, its once-busy terminals now littered with old boarding passes, debris from a collapsed roof and garbage.

Announcement boards, somewhat eerily, still proclaim flights now long flown and forgotten. An old Boeing 747-200 sits rusting among stray dogs and overgrown weeds off the runway. 

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A board is seen inside a deserted hall at the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A lounge is seen at Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

An auxiliary control tower is reflected in a mirror at a deserted cafe in the east terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

An announcement board is seen inside a deserted hall at the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

Olympic Airways travel tags are seen behind a desk inside the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

Boarding passes are seen inside a hall at the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A view of a burnt building in the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A burnt out arrivals hall is seen at the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

Documents are seen in an office at Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

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

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

Photographs of Hellenikon are seen inside a hall where a museum for Olympic Airways was set up.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A hall is seen in the west terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A corridor leading to a passenger gate is seen in the east terminal of Hellenikon.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

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

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

Stray dogs walk outside the airport.

...

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15

A runway is seen at Hellenikon.

Please click here for the Complete Coverage of Budget 2014 -15