Greek Airports: January-March Flights, Arrivals Top 2022, 2019 Numbers

Tourism to Greece is picking up pace with the number of flights and arrivals at the country’s airports on the rise in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, said the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) this week.

Greece’s airports include Athens International Airport (AIA), 24 regional airports managed by the HCAA and 14 regional airports under the management of Fraport Greece.

More specifically, in the January-March period, total traffic (domestic and international) through Greek airports increased by 52.8 percent compared to 2022 and by 2.9 percent over pre-Covid 2019 to 6.8 million compared to 4.5 million (2022) and 6.6 million (2019).

In the same three-month period under review, 65,678 flights touched down at Greece’s airports compared to 58,163 in 2022 and 65,437 in pre-pandemic 2019 marking a 12.9 percent rise over 2022 and a 0.4 increase against 2019.

Thessaloniki airport. Photo: Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

Looking at March data, traveler traffic increased by 36.5 percent to 2.5 million passengers compared to 2022 (1.8 million) and by 3.3 percent over 2019.

In March, Greek airports handled 23,641 flights compared to 21,952 in 2022 and 23,288 in 2019. Flight traffic for the month grew by 7.7 percent over March 2022 and was up by 1.5 percent against 2019.

Commenting on the news, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said HCAA data confirms that “the season has gotten off to a very good start” referring to a 52.8 percent increase in passenger arrivals at Greek airports in the first quarter of the year.

Athens and Thessaloniki’s airports

Source: GBR Consulting

Athens International Airport recorded a significant increase of 10 percent in international arrivals during Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2019, with domestic traffic at similar levels. Comparing the same quarters for the Thessaloniki International Airport, international arrivals registered a small increase of 2 percent, while domestic arrivals declined.

Thessaloniki’s airport is among Greece’s 14 regional airports managed by Fraport Greece. Overall, the 14 airports handled 1.89 million passengers in Q1 marking a 1.8 percent decline over Q1 2019. International traffic flows increased by 5.2 percent in the January-March period, but domestic traffic fell by 5.6 percent over the same period in 2019.

Fraport Greece handles the airports at three mainland gateways in Greece (Thessaloniki, Aktion, and Kavala) and on 11 Greek islands (Chania on Crete, Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos and Zakynthos).