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Athens Int’l Airport (ATH/LGAV) Control Tower visit

Cleared for take-off by the Athens tower

Control Tower, Athens Int'l Airport "El. Venizelos"
19 May 2007
 

Visiting the El. Venizelos tower has been on our minds for some time. This secure and isolated room high above the airport, with its crucial role in air traffic safety and coordination of all flights, excite the imagination of all aviation enthusiasts.

Saturday morning and it is impossible to hide the excitement. In a place like this, where freedom of movement is somewhat restricted for the visitor, we are welcomed by the people working there with warm and friendly smiles making us feel right at home straight away.

We quickly noticed their enthusiasm for their job despite the difficulties inherent in their profession. No-one there feels like this is just another desk job. They give us a tour of the various work stations and they explain to us in detail how everything there works, answering to all the questions we could throw at them, justifying in the best possible way their enthusiasm and their feelings for their work. Screens and systems help to effectively oversee and ‘run’ their area of responsibility augmented by able professionals, people who were alert during the whole time we were there.

We left satisfied we once more had the chance to get so close to the heart of the matter. And the matter always is Aviation.

For their willingness in handling our request, for their friendliness and their professionalism as witnessed first hand during our visit, we would like to thank everyone we met that day. We would specially like to thank Mr. Tsiotas for his immediate response and Mrs. Farmaki together with her team for the warm hospitality, Nontas Maurokefalos, Nikos Mikros and Maria Mihopoulou for their help in making this visit possible.