Greek 11-month Airport Traffic Up by 10.1%, Flights by 9.9%

Thessaloniki airport. Photo: Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

Greece’s airports recorded a 10.1 percent rise in passenger traffic in the January-November 2018 period, handling 61.3 million passengers compared to 55.6 million in 2017, while the number of flights was up by 9.9 percent, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) said on Thursday.

The HCAA says the figures mark a “historic high” with Greek airports welcoming an additional 5.6 million passengers compared to the same period last year.

The total number of flights through Greek airports came to 508,270 – domestic 193,215 and international 315,055, recording a 9.9 percent rise compared to the corresponding period in 2017 at 462,670.

For the month of November, the HCAA found a 13.8 percent rise in total passenger traffic at 2.6 million and a 17.1 percent increase in the number of foreign arrivals to 640,251. The number of flights came to 24,924 – stronger by 16 percent against 2017 at 21,488 flights.

Busiest airports in terms of incoming flows for November were in Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Rhodes, and Chania.

Rhodes International Airport – Diagoras/ Photo © Piotrus – Wikimedia Commons

More specifically, in November 2018, Athens Airport handled 1.6 million passengers, followed by the airports of Thessaloniki at 427,940, Heraklion at 169,957, Rhodes at 67,838 and Chania at 59,033.

Meanwhile, the airports of Sitia (Crete), Milos and Νaxos recorded the largest percentage growth in the 11-month period, up by 97.1 percent (60,724 passengers), 61.5 percent (73,413) and 54.4 percent  (83,860), respectively.

HCAA Governor Konstantinos Lintzerakos has said earlier this year that passenger traffic through Greek airports for 2018 was expected to exceed 60 million by the end of 2018.