Athens is served by the Athens International Airport (ATH), located near the town of Spata, in the eastern Messoghia plain, some  east of center of Athens. The airport, awarded the "European Airport of the Year 2004" Award, is intended as an expandable hub for air travel in southeastern Europe and was constructed in 51 months, costing 2.2 billion euros. It employs a staff of 14,000.