Panagopoulos, 70, owns Attica Enterprises and Blue Star Ferries, and also has a major interest in Minoan Lines. He was on his way to work in a seaside suburb when the kidnappers forced their car to stop, a Times of London correspondent reported.

The pair were handcuffed at gunpoint and forced into a van, and the kidnappers then set fire to Panagopoulos's car, police said.

Five miles from Athens International Airport, the group released the unidentified driver, who called police.

The country has been rocked by violent demonstrations for the past month after a police officer shot and killed a boy, but there was no indication the kidnapping was related to that situation.

Hours after the abduction, police said there had been no communication from the kidnappers.