Air Quality In The Mesogaia Plain InEastern Attica Before And After The Opening OfThe Athens International Airport

As part of its environmental responsibilities, the Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” has been monitoring air quality in the Mesogaia Plain since late 1998, well before the opening of the airport in March 2001. Several years worth of air quality and meteorological data were analysed in order to identify possible changes in regional air quality. It was found that, in general, air quality in the Mesogaia is satisfactory. Furthermore, a comparison of a two-year period prior to the opening of the airport with a two-year period following the initiation of operations revealed no noticeable impact of airport operations on air quality in the Mesogaia. Apart from ozone and particulate matter, pollutant levels are significantly lower than those observed in the city center of Athens and well below both current and future air quality thresholds. Observed concentrations of particulate matter do not exceed current thresholds, but if levels remain unchanged the stricter thresholds coming into effect in the next few years may likely be exceeded in some areas of the Mesogaia. Future work will focus on continued monitoring as well as the development of an aircraft emissions inventory.