Once-Crowded Airports That Are Now Completely Abandoned
When you think of airports, they’re filled with bustling crowds, so it’s a system shock seeing them empty. Holidaymakers have left these abandoned husks to the mercy of the elements long ago, and time has used them as its plaything. Don’t worry, though — you won’t be exploring them alone. We’re with you every step of the way.
Hellinikon airport
Nicknames: The Greek
Passengers: 10 million per annum
Hellinikon, or “The Greek,” has a history dating back to the 1930s, and despite enjoying a successful heyday it’s since fallen into ruin. What could’ve happened, you ask? The world simply moved on and bypassed the Hellinkon, as the Olympic Airlines Workers’ Cultural Center’s president, Vasilis Tsatsaragkos, told CNN in 2021.
Economic decline
“In the 1990s, the airport had ended up handling well above 10 million passengers [annually],” Vasilis reported. “Hellenikon was unable to meet the country’s dynamically increasing tourism needs.” Since then, economic decline and government disagreements left Hellinikon abandoned, though plans to transform it into a vacation center are still in the pipeline.
Davidstow Airfield
Location: Cornwall
Alternate use: Formula 1 racing track
Davidstow Airfield’s tucked away in rural England, where it served as a Royal Air Force airbase until its closure in 1945. Five years later the site found itself hosting a completely different type of vehicle, when it was used as a racing track. In fact, three Formula 1 races took place there.
Haunted by the past
A lot of the buildings have since been torn down, but there’s still a hangar-on, if you’ll pardon the pun. An old control tower remains open to explore, which graffiti artists have used as a canvas. And if you believe the legends, you may even encounter one of Davidstow’s famous ghosts. Or is that a flight of fancy?
