Western Crete Travel Agents Table Plans for Chania Airport Upgrade

Impression of Chania airport  after revamp.

Travel operators in Western Crete are calling on Fraport Greece to take the necessary measures in order to make the Chania International Airport competitive by adopting a flexible pricing policy.

In a memo to Fraport Greece, the German operator of 14 regional airports across the country, the Western Crete Travel Agencies Association is requesting that Fraport “create conditions friendly to tourism development, prevent monopolistic practices and facilitate the arrival of new airlines in efforts to make Crete accessible to more markets”.

The memo comes weeks after Fraport Greece announced the launch of 13 new routes at Chania Airport “Ioannis Daskalogiannis” at a presentation in Chania of the company’s plans for the strategic upgrade of the airport.

The Chania association goes on to note that airport surcharges must serve as incentives and not turn away airlines especially at the start and end of the season. The region’s agents further underline the need for the airport to operate 24/7 all year round in order to “secure a spot on the international airline route map”.

Chania on Crete.

The association invites all sector professionals to work towards establishing Chania as a quality tourist destination that will retain steady demand all year long.

According to the memo, “tourism for Crete, as well as for Greece as a whole, is the main source of employment, but also a key development tool… based on Greek Tourist Confederation (SETE) data. The Region of Crete contributes through tourism approximately 50 percent to the GDP, with over 4 billion euros in revenues”.

The association goes on to stress the significance of Chania Airport as a main gateway to Western Crete facilitating trade, transport and tourism.