Messinia Hoteliers Urge Authorities to Speed Up Kalamata Airport Upgrade

Photo source: Municipality of Kalamata

Hoteliers in Messinia are urging the government to accelerate procedures so that the Airport of Kalamata is modernized ahead of the tourism season.

More specifically, the Messinia Hotel Association is calling on the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations and the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) to arrange an inspection of the Kalamata International Airport to assess needs and improvements.

Messinia Hotel Association President Dimitris Karalis attributed lagging tourism development in Messinia to Kalamata airport, “the modernization of which is proceeding at an incredibly slow pace”, he said.

To prove his point, Karalis referred to arrivals data which showed a decline in passenger traffic last year and a slow start in 2024. Unlike the country’s other regional airports which recorded increases in traffic, Kalamata arrivals marked a 15.5 percent drop, he said. At the same time, seats planned for the first quarter of 2024 are also down compared to the year-ago period compared to a 14.8 percent rise overall in Greece. Meanwhile, the number of airline seats from one of Kalamata’s key source markets, Germany, is down by 56.6 percent.

“This is irrefutable proof that the problem centers on the need for an upgrade of the main entry point to the Peloponnese region,” he said. “Small and medium-sized enterprises in the hospitality sector in Messinia bear a great burden in terms of their operational survival. And while they are struggling to survive, they are investing in their own modernization to meet the demand, without this translating into profits due to reduced tourist arrivals as a result of serious airport deficiencies,” he said.

Lastly, Karalis called on regional and local government to take immediate action so that building infrastructure at the airport improved ahead of the tourism season.