Review: The spacious Aegean Airlines non-Schengen lounge in Athens

January 12, 2026

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A Spacious Landing
The Extra-Schengen Lounge
How are the toilets?
Food, glorious food!
Booze O’Clock!
Overall Thoughts

I am never at an airline lounge at opening time, but I was this time. I’d flown in from London and was connecting back to Dublin – yes, it was a status run – and my arrival was an hour before the lounge opened at 5am. During the wait, I cooled my heels on a spacious bench in the sparsely populated terminal.

This was my second visit to the lounge and I held off writing a review as the first time the lounge was quite busy. Naturally having the place to myself this time meant I could take all the pictures I wanted and not have to work around other passengers – a great situation for me to be in!

A Spacious Landing

When you go up the escalators to the lounge, there is a large screen that welcomes you to the area. Of course, when I arrived everything else was completely closed.

an escalator in a building — The welcome sign.

a building with a sign on the wall — All closed up!

a reception desk in a building — This is the reception desk.

There is a seating feature up there, so I sat quietly and waited. Someone was asleep on the other side of where I was, which is quite smart as it’s away from everywhere else in the terminal. After ten minutes or so, and a little behind schedule, the Receptionist arrived.

The Extra-Schengen Lounge

Entering the lounge reveals seats immediately in front of you and you can choose to go left or right. Left will take you to more and more seats (including the coveted recliners by the window), while going right takes you to all the food.

The colour palette comprises of blue, white, silver, black, tan and sand. Aegean’s navy blue is very appealing to me, so naturally I liked the overall look of the place.

a room with tables and chairs — Upon entry, this is the view.

a room with chairs and tables — Looking left shows more seating.

a food on a counter — Looking right shows the beginning of the food.

a bar with a table and chairs — Alcoholic drinks are right at the back.

a table with blue balls on it — This blue design thing is so cute!

a room with a large screen and white couches — The white couches are chic af!

a room with white couches and tables — Stunning!

a large room with white and black furniture — The main drag.

a large screen in a room — Seats tucked away in back.

a row of chairs in a room — I camped out in a reclined seat to watch the planes out the window. Both times!

a room with chairs and a television — Seats at the back.

a room with a large couch and chairs — Another view.

a room with a television and chairs — Magazines.

Quite a lot of choice is available for the passenger. You can choose to eat in the dining room, but there are also tables away from the dining area if you want to avoid all the people circulating.

There are places to work, places to hide and places to lay back and chill. It’s very thoughtfully laid out and I rather like it. For me though it was the recliners – I could charge my phone, look out and watch the world pass by, and I was screened from most of the lounge. Perfect!

How are the toilets?

Not signposted is the first thing I’ll tell you. When I first visited I couldn’t really find them. For those wondering, head to the dining area, go past the big TV on your left and you’ll be looking directly out at the apron. Turn left and ta-dah!

a bathroom with sinks and soap dispensers — The sinks in the Men’s.

a bathroom with a toilet and sink — Cublicles.

a couple of bottles of liquid — Olivia has it going on!

Interestingly it is three cubicles for the men and no urinal. While it tends to be relatively busy when the lounge is full, I’ve not yet seen a queue. They really put as few toilets in as possible to maximise the lounge space, as opposed to some other facilities that have very spacious bathrooms.

Food, glorious food!

Christmas was in full swing in December 2025 when I visited, which explains all the decorations hanging from the ceiling. It also meant some themed biscuits and what not in the food area. Look at all the goodies – gird your loins, there are a lot of pictures in a row now.

a sink full of soda cans and bottles — Soft drinks and water.

a coffee machine and a basket of bananas — Bananas, coffee, tea.

a display case with food on it — Look at these bad boys!

a tray of food with meats and sandwiches — Want close ups?

a plate of cheese and sandwiches — Nom-nom-nom.

a tray of bagels and wraps — Let’s get up close and personal.

a tray of sandwiches and other food — Get in my belly!

a bowl of soup with a spoon — Chicken soup in lemon sauce.

a pot of food on a stove — What to choose?

a pot of puff pastry on a stove — How ’bout this?

a plate of food on a table — A few of my favourite things.

a display of candy in a glass container — Look at these!

a glass containers with cookies in them — Soooo cute!

a display of pastries on a counter — And so many of them!

a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee — Naturally I restrained myself and tried EVERYTHING!

a menu on a table — Yoghurt, cremes and fruit corner menu.

a display case with food in it — Tried, loved!

a wooden box with different types of bread in it — Breads, for those that swing that way.

a tray of food in a container — These nibbly bready things.

a group of jars and snacks in a wooden box — Breadspreads!

Yes, there is plenty of food. Would I recommend? Yes. As you can see, I sampled quite a bit more than I planned to, but hey, you only live once… worth it!

Booze O’Clock!

Drinking at 5:30am in an airline lounge? As IF anyone would ever do THAT! Since the local sparkling wine was just sitting there and nobody was drinking, I figured I’d better take one (or three) for the team and give it a whirl.

a group of bottles of alcohol on a counter — Spirits having flown!

a group of wine bottles on a counter — Bottles of red!

a metal tray with bottles and cans of liquid — Mixers and what’s that at the back?

a bottle of champagne next to a glass of water — Sparkling wine and it was fine… and so was I!

While I do prefer to have proper Champagne, the sparkling wine was very okay. Of course, I had water as well, as I didn’t want to be wobbling onto my flight to Dublin!

Overall Thoughts

Loved this lounge the first time I visited and it was busy then. Having it all to myself for a good ten minutes, then sharing it with one person for another little bit meant I could go hog wild on the photos.

I thought the food selection perfect for a bite to eat before flight. While it’s not exactly a hot food extravaganza, it reflects Greece very well. Quality of the food was superb as well, as you would expect from a premier airline lounge.

What do you think of the Aegean Airlines non-Schengen lounge in Athens? Have you been here before? Did you enjoy the pictures? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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