Directions from Luthansa terminal to Olympic terminal in Athens airport
 

I am arriving in Athens on Luthansa at 5:30 pm and am booked on an Olympic airlines flight that leaves at 6:25. Help me,please. Can you tell me how to get from Luthansa terminal to the Olympic, going to baggage claim first.

The Athens airport is quite small.. you will have no problems - you'll deplane and immediately get your bags. From there, you follow the signs a short distance to the Olympic flights, which are generally downstairs. About a 5 - 7 minute walk from where you'll retrieve your bags.
No problem -

Thanks, djuna. Can you tell me how to get from the terminal where I come in on Luthansa, like which direction to turn to go to baggage claim and then from there exactly how to get to Olympic check in?

Here's a site for the Athens
airport in English:

http://www.athensairport-2001.gr/

Click on the "Services and Facilities"
link in the left menu. You'll
get a page with a map to click...

Once the larger map opens you can see
different areas of the airport by using the links at the left edge of the map.

Rob

I may be wrong, but I think you go UPSTAIRS for connecting flights after going through Passport Control for international flights.

I flew into Athens this past July on Olympic and after going through PC and retrieving my bags, I turned right at the EXIT and went UPSTAIRS to get my plane to Thessaloniki (Aegean).

This is where all the airline ticket counters were. This is the Departures Level.

When I left Athens, I again checked into OLYMPIC Airlines for my return flight to the US on this floor--The Departures Level.

Thin

The old Athens Hellenikon Airport had two separate terminals, one for Olympic, and another for all the rest. The new airport has just one terminal, and Thin is correct with her directions.

I hope you will be going through customs and immigration at the previous stop, because 55 minutes really isn't enough time between flights. When you check in at the Olympic counter, go straight to the front of the line and tell them your flight is about to depart.

Heimdall, after posting on this forum for 8 YEARS, I would hope you would know that I am a

HE NOT A SHE :)

I was going to mention also that I don't think you have enough time, lynlee. Do you have to re-check your luggage?

I know that when I went to Thessaloniki, I had to go through security all over again even though I never left the airport. That can hold you up.

On the bright side, Olympic is known for its delays. :)

John G.

You sure had me fooled, Thingorus! :-D

Why would anyone go through customs or immigration when arriving at Athens on a Lufthansa flight?

Well, flanner, if lynlee is American and coming from JFK and she is taking Lufthansa to Frankfurt then connecting to Athens, wouldn't she go through Customs in Athens?

No?

She would go through Customs in Frankfurt?

Thin

"Well, flanner, if lynlee is American and coming from JFK and she is taking Lufthansa to Frankfurt then connecting to Athens, wouldn't she go through Customs in Athens?"

Of course not.

Whatever nationality she is.

Why?

I flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt from JFK and then connected to Czech Airways for a flight to Prague.

I didn't go through Customs in Frankfurt. I went through Customs in Prague.

Isn't the Czech Republic part of the EEC.

Please explain.

Thin

Flanner, I wasn't very clear on that either, as I fly to Greece from the UK. Many countries have transient lounges where passengers wait between flights, not going through immigration until the final destination. On flights from Toronto to the US, you clear US immigration in Toronto. So the answer isn't always as straight-forward as it appears.

You DO have enough time.. don't worry.
Immediately upon arrival you are ushered directly to collect your bags. If you are coming from the US and have already passed through Frankfurt or Munich (or any other European airport) you already have dealt w/ passport control.
Otherwise, it really only takes a SHORT time in Athens... (but it USED to be a nightmare at the old airport!)
Olympic flights **to the islands** leave from GROUND level. Aegean is another story.... Olympic to an island, downstairs. If you are talking a larger jet to another major city, perhaps you do leave from the normal departures area.

We have done this many times... this airport is infinitely easier to navigate than the old one!
Last May we arrived at 4:20 PM from SFO via Amsterdam... collected bags and had time for a leisurely coffee, before we made way to our Olympic flight that left an hour and a half after our arrival.
Yes - of course - it was delayed!!
But the pilot made up for lost time, careening like a madman across the tarmac (with the door to the cockpit wide open - we could see his mate struggling to help him get his uniform jacket on!) to the runway and then turning a usually 40 minute flight into one that took only 25!
Only in Greece!
I LOVE it and look forward to another month, onlu 38 days now!

Lynlee, don't worry about your connection - UNLESS your arriving flight is late!

And Lynlee, if you are confused, or just want help after deplaning, just ASK someone.... :-)

I get the hunch that LynLee is American and flying from the USA. I would think that whatever airport in the USA she flies from shouldn't matter. It's where she clears customs that matters and will take the most time. The question would be; is it Frankfurt or is it Athens that she clears?

She'll clear immigration in Frankfurt (assuming coming from the US) and customs in Athens. Germany and Greece are both in the Schengen zone.

Thin-Czech Republic just recently joined Schengen, as in the last few months (don't know when the airport procedures are changed). Before that, immigration would have been in Prague.

Djuna, are you saying you didn't have to first go UPSTAIRS to check in at the Olympic counter before boarding the flight? That would certainly save time.

Thanks for the explanation, ms go.

Now, djuna, what I don't understand is why lynlee doesn't have to go UPSTAIRS to Olympic to CHECK HER BAGS and GET HER BOARDING PASS?

She is, afterall, changing airlines. It would be different if she was flying Olympic all the way from the US to the Islands.

And, yes, Aegean does DEPARTE from Ground Level, but you have to check in at Departure Level, then take the escalator back downstair after you go through the gates.

Thingorjus

I'm jumping in with a similar question which I've posted separately, but since I need advice asap -- here I go --
US citizen flying (AA) to London, staying a couple of days. Taking a different airline (BA) from London to Athens. Taking Aegean from Athens to Heraklion -- three separate tickets, not ticketed through at any point.

I have 1 hour and 50 minutes in Athens for the change from BA to Aegean. Need to collect luggage, check in/check bags with Aegean, get to departure gate plus ?customs? immigration? which or both?

Is 1:50 enough time?