HCAA: Passenger Traffic at Greek Airports on Upward Trend

Greek airports in June recorded a steady upward trend in passenger traffic and arrivals from abroad compared to the same month in 2020, according to data from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).

“The rules that are in place for entry to Greece from abroad (vaccination certificate or negative test or recovery certificate) have led to an increase in travelers who prefer Greece for their vacation,” HCAA said in an announcement.

More specifically, international arrivals in June this year were up by 1,250.9 percent to 1,181,771, compared to the same month last year when only 87,481 passengers arrived.

The total number of flights (domestic and international) in June amounted to 39,085, recording an increase of 201.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2020 (12,967 flights). The total number of passengers handled (arrivals/departures) reached 3,101,422, an increase of 432.7 percent compared to the passenger traffic of 2020 (582,235 passengers).

Moreover, the HCAA said that when comparing this June’s aviation data with statistics from the same month in 2019 – when there was no coronavirus (Covid-19) nor flight restrictions – international arrivals to Greece are down by 46.2 percent and the total passenger traffic at Greek airports shows a 46.1 percent decrease.

January-June data shows impact of Covid-19 on air travel

Moreover, HCAA’s data for the first half of 2021, from all airports in Greece, shows the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on air travel since March 2020, when the first travel bans/flight restrictions came into force.

According to the data, 6,015,373 passengers went through Greek airports between the January-June 2021 period – a 2.8 percent drop compared to the first half of 2020 (6,188,389 passengers) and a major 72.7 percent decrease when compared with the first six months of 2019 (22,047,719 passengers).

Flights at Greek airports during the first half of the year amounted to 100,257 of which 60,244 were domestic and 40,013 international, showing an increase of 16.9 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2020 (85,790 flights) and a decrease of 54.3 percent when compared to the first six months of 2019 when 219,442 flights were operated.