One of the largest Easter exoduses of recent years is expected to be this year’s, as thousands of Athenians are leaving the city today using every means possible, including cars, ships, and planes.
Today, on Maundy Thursday, the last travellers depart from the ports of Piraeus and Rafina, Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, and the national highways. Traffic was particularly heavy this morning on the roads around the country’s largest port.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: At the Athens Cathedral with Archbishop Ieronymos for the 12 Gospels
The Easter holiday mass departure is causing traffic delays on the roads of Attica. Traffic congestion is reported on the Athens-Corinth National Road at the Haidari section, with kilometer-long queues extending to the Eleusis Refineries. Traffic is also heavy on the Attiki Odos highway from Aspropyrgos to Eleusis, and the gridlock persists from Anthousa to the Metamorfosis interchange. Since yesterday, holidaymakers have been leaving the capital for Easter destinations. Over 47,343 vehicles have passed through the Eleusis tolls towards the Peloponnese, while 35,485 vehicles have been recorded at the Afidnes tolls in the outbound lane. Delays are also noted on the Attiki Odos highway towards Eleusis from the Penteli interchange to the Kifisia interchange, with reports of violations in the HOV lane.
This Easter, there’s a 20% increase in traffic at the Kifisos and Liosion bus stations compared to last year. Buses have been departing continuously since early morning, reaching full capacity of 100% for destinations across the Peloponnese, Aetolia-Acarnania, Epirus, Thessaly, Magnesia, Pieria, Evrytania, Phthiotis, Boeotia, and Euboea. On Maundy Thursday alone, Kifisos station has 300 scheduled routes, including 80 emergency ones, while Liosion station offers over 100 routes to all destinations.
Traffic at the ports has surged by 30% compared to last year from the past Friday until Holy Tuesday. During this period, from April 26, 2024, to April 30, 2024, 69,663 passengers have used the port of Piraeus (only from Zea). Although the total number of routes has slightly increased compared to last year, today, May 2, 2024, an estimated 25,574 passengers are expected to depart on 22 routes from the port of Piraeus. Traffic at the port of Piraeus has been high since morning, with 25,574 passenger departures scheduled for today, while 10,870 passengers are departing from the port of Rafina. On Wednesday, 11 ships departed from the port of Piraeus (Zea) with 12,405 passengers.
