Airports in Greece See Passenger Traffic Up 10.4% in Jan-May 2018

The airport of Kavala recorded a rise of 122.5 percent in passenger traffic during the first five months of 2018. Photo: © Sakis79 / Wikimedia Commons

During the first five months of the year, passenger traffic at airports in Greece increased by 10.4 percent to 16,261,853, compared to the same period in 2017, mainly due to a sharp rise in May in the number of international arrivals, according to data released on Tuesday by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).

HCAA notes that the number of international travelers rose by 18.9 percent in May reaching 2,583,735.

Heraklio Airport. Photo: GTP

The total number of flights at Greek airports during the January-May 2018 period rose by 6.4 percent, compared to the same period last year and reached 145,316 (67,367 domestic and 77,949 international).

The airports of Kavala, Milos and Sitia on Crete recorded the highest passenger traffic in the January-May period.

According to the HCAA, the airport of Kavala was the busiest with an increase of 122.5 percent in passenger traffic to 120,613 passengers compared to 54,200 in the corresponding period of 2017. Arrivals at the airport of Milos increased by 78.7 percent (16,560 passengers) and in Sitia by 77,6 percent (11,082 passengers).

Arrivals at Greek airports in May alone, increased by 17.5 percent compared to the same month in 2017, reaching 6,321,770 passengers.

The total number of flights in May rose by 14.1 percent to 51,089 compared to 44,795 in May 2017, with the airports of Athens, Heraklion, Rhodes, Thessaloniki and Chania being among the busiest.