Greek Airport Traffic Soars in First Half of 2023

Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

Greece’s airports welcomed 27.4 million passengers in the first half (H1) of 2023, marking a 21.7 percent rise in traffic compared to the same period a year earlier and a 10.9 percent increase over 2019, according to tentative data released by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) this week.

More specifically, in the January-June period, total traffic which includes international and domestic arrivals and departures across all of the country’s airports came to 27.4 million compared to 22.5 million in H1 2022 and 24.7 million in pre-Covid 2019

In the same six-month period, a total of 225,198 flights were recorded compared to 213,630 in 2022 and 214,489 in 2019, boosting H1 airport traffic by 5.4 percent over 2022 and by 5.0 percent on 2019.

In June, Greece’s airports handled a total of 9.35 million passengers, up from 8.45 million in 2022 and 8.42 million in 2019, marking a 10.7 percent rise over 2022 and an 11.0 percent increase over 2019.

In the same month, a total of 70,513 flights were recorded compared to 69,197 in 2022 and 66,827 in 2019, boosting airport traffic by 1.9 percent against 2022 and by 5.5 percent over 2019.

Athens International Airport (AIA).

The data announced by the HCAA for Greece’s airports during the January-June period include the 24 regional airports  it manages, Athens International Airport (AIA) and 14 regional airports under the management of Fraport Greece.

AIA saw total passenger traffic in June rise by 19.8 percent over 2022 and 11.7 percent over pre-Covid 2019 levels to 2.92 million passengers. During the first six months of the year, the airport’s passenger traffic reached 12.07 million, up 34.5 percent compared to 2022, but also up 7.2 percent compared to 2019.

Greece’s 14 regional airports

Meanwhile, the country’s 14 regional airports managed by Fraport Greece handled a total of 11.8 million arrivals in the January-June 2023 period marking a 7.8 percent increase over H1 2019 and a 14.3 percent rise compared to 2022. For the month of June, the country’s regional airports handled 4.9 million travelers with domestic traffic up by 9.4 percent and international arrivals by 11.9 percent compared to 2019.