This year’s performance in Greek is rising airportswith passenger traffic figures for the seven months so far pointing to a record year.
According to the data, during this period there was a +9.5% increase in passenger traffic compared to last year for all airports in the country where commercial flights are carried out (39 airports: 24 CAA, 14 FRAPORT GREECE, AIA).
Specifically, the total number of passengers in the period January-July 2024 reached 42,538,219, compared to 38,833,074 passengers in the corresponding period January-July 2023, while according to aviation market executives, August should be a month of “take-off” in passenger traffic, but also in flights (official data expected in the coming days).
After all, IATA in its online publication states that “Greece continues its positive trend in international air arrivals this summer, making the country one of the top European tourist destinations”. Around 9,401,000 passengers traveled to Greece between June and September 2024, exceeding international air ticket sales in 2023 by 9.5%, the Union highlights. This means that Greece sees an increase of 812,000 air passengers this summer.
It is also worth noting that on Saturday, August 10, 2024, the Civil Aviation Service (CAA) Air Traffic Control served 4,944 flights in the Athens FIR (arrivals, departures and aircraft transits/overflights), a number that is a new all-time record.
AIA – Targeting record passenger traffic in 2024
Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is on track to set a new record this year in terms of both passenger traffic and flights to Athens. Overall, during the first seven months of the year, the airport’s traffic reached 17.62 million passengers, an increase of 14.6%. Domestic and international passenger traffic increased by 8.0% and 17.6%, respectively.
The number of flights at Athens International Airport during the first seven months of 2024 reached 150,344, an increase of 12.4% compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Both domestic and international flights recorded an increase of 5.5% and 17.8% compared to 2023.
At Fraport Greece’s 14 regional airports
With regard to its 14 regional airports Fraport GreecePassenger traffic “flew” in the first seven months. According to company data, more than 19 million passengers used one of the 14 airports it manages.
Specifically, 19.11 million passengers were transported, an increase of 6.4% compared to the corresponding period in 2023, where 17.95 million passengers were transported (i.e. 1.2 million more passengers).
The airport with the highest traffic volume is Thessaloniki’s “Macedonia” with 4.07 million passengers and an increase of 5.2%. In second place is Rhodes Airport with 3.62 million and in third place is Corfu Airport with 2.25 million. In fourth place is Chania Airport with 2.11 million and in fifth place is Kos Airport with 1.55 million passengers.
Regarding the countries with the highest combined passenger traffic at Fraport Greece’s 14 airports, Great Britain remains consistently in first place and by a wide margin with 1.31 million, in second Germany with 769,589, in third Italy with 636,027, in fourth Poland with 370,199 and in fifth place is the Netherlands with 221,553. . And then France, Denmark, Czech Republic, Austria and Sweden.
In terms of flights, Great Britain is first with 7,965, followed by Germany with 5,007, Italy with 4,333, Poland with 2,036 and France with 1,674. In non-European countries, there was notable traffic from the United Arab Emirates with 116, Qatar with 38 and Armenia with 28.
The 24 airports managed by the CAA
Passenger traffic at the 24 airports managed by the CAA showed an increase of +5%, according to statistics for the seven months from January to July 2024.
In particular, the total number of passengers (international and domestic arrivals and departures) in the first seven months of the year reached 6,054,816 passengers, compared with 5,768,484 passengers in the corresponding period of 2023.
At the same time, the most significant increases in passenger traffic at airports managed by the CAA in July 2024 compared to last year were recorded at Kasos Airport +89.8%, Milos Airport +33%, Naxos Airport +30%, and Sitias Airport +27.7%. Heraklion State Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” served 1,618,073 passengers in July this year, i.e. an increase of +3% compared to last year.
Regarding the number of aircraft movements (arrivals and departures of national and international aircraft) in the seven months from January to July 2024, for all 39 airports in the country whose air traffic control is mainly exercised by the CAA, there was an increase of +6.9% compared to the corresponding period from January to July 2023. In particular, 328,272 flights were carried out, compared to 306,982 flights in the seven months of 2023.
INSETE – International Air Arrivals
International air arrivals to Greece continue to increase, according to INSETE Intelligence’s statistical report.
In the period January-July 2024, 14.4 million international air arrivals were recorded, exceeding the levels of January-July 2023 (13.3 million), representing an increase of +8.2% or +1.1 million arrivals.
In January of last year, 485,000 arrivals were recorded, representing an increase of 25.3%/+98,000 international arrivals. In February of the same year, 462,000 international arrivals were recorded, representing an increase of 19.5%/+75,000. In March, international air arrivals were 656,000, representing an increase of 13.7%/+79,000. April recorded 1.4 million international arrivals, representing an increase of 5.6%/+77,000. In May, international air arrivals reached 2.9 million, representing an increase of 12.7%/+323,000. In June, international air arrivals totaled 3.8 million, representing an increase of 5.6%/+203,000. Finally, in July international air arrivals reached 4.6 million, an increase of 5.3%/+235 thousand compared to 2023.
Airport transit
In the 7th month of 2024, Athens International Airport “El. Venizelos” registered 4.5 million international air arrivals, representing an increase of 12.5%/+500 thousand compared to the same period in 2023.
Thessaloniki airport followed, where 1.4 million international air arrivals were recorded, representing an increase of 3.1%/+41,000.
Heraklion Airport registered 2 million international arrivals, representing an increase of 6.5%/+124 thousand.
Chania Airport registered 848,000 international arrivals, representing an increase of 7.4%/+58,000.
At Rhodes airport, 1.6 million international arrivals were recorded, representing an increase of 15.4%/+217 thousand, and at Kos airport, arrivals reached 719 thousand, showing an increase of 4.2%/+29 thousand.
On the contrary, at Karpathos airport, air arrivals amounted to 54,000, registering a marginal decrease of 1.1%/-1,000.
At Corfu Airport, international air arrivals reached 1.1 million, representing an increase of 6.5%/+65,000.
At Zakynthos airport, 576 thousand arrivals were registered, an increase of 5.9%/+32 thousand.
Kefalonia Airport recorded an increase of 2%/+4,000 with a total of 208,000 arrivals, while the increase at Aktion Airport was 1.3%/+3,000 with a total of 222,000.
The airports of Mykonos (-4.8%/-14 thousand) and Santorini (-0.7%/-5 thousand) recorded a decrease, with international arrivals at 282 thousand and 408 thousand, respectively.
Kalamata Airport registered 82,000 international air arrivals, representing an increase of 11.7%/+9,000.
At Araxos airport, 40 thousand international arrivals were registered, an increase of 13.8%/+5 thousand.
Skiathos Airport registered 154,000 arrivals, marking an increase of 8%/+11,000, while Samos Airport registered 76,000 international air arrivals, marking an increase of 3.7%/+3,000.
On the contrary, a decrease of 8%/-6,000 was recorded at Kavala airport, with air arrivals reaching 65,000.
Finally, at Mytilini Airport, international air arrivals reached 44,000, marking an increase of 42.6%/+13,000.
Domestic arrivals
In the period considered in 2024, 5.4 million domestic air arrivals were recorded, compared to 4.9 million in the corresponding period of 2023, showing an increase of 7.8%/+400 thousand arrivals.
In particular, 504,000 arrivals were recorded in January, showing an increase of 6.5%/+31,000 passengers. In February, 506,000 arrivals were recorded, showing an accelerated increase of 10.9%/+50,000. In March, air arrivals stood at 608,000, showing an increase of 12.5%/+67,000. %/+23,000, with 704,000 arrivals recorded. In May, air arrivals reached 916,000, showing an accelerated growth of 11.6%/+95,000. In June, air arrivals reached 1 million, with growth slowing to 6.9%/+65,000. Finally, 1.1 million arrivals were recorded in July 2024, an increase of 5.4%/+57,000 compared to July 2023.
Domestic arrivals by airport
In the same period, 2.6 million air arrivals were recorded at Athens International Airport, showing an increase of 7.5%/+180 thousand compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
Thessaloniki airport followed, where 681 thousand air arrivals were recorded, representing an increase of 8.5%/+54 thousand.
At Heraklion airport there was an increase of 49 thousand/+11.5%, with air arrivals rising to 476 thousand, while at Chania airport 255 thousand arrivals were recorded, showing an increase of 7.4%/+18 thousand.
At Rhodes airport there were 256 thousand air arrivals, an increase of 7.1%/+17 thousand, and at Kos 93 thousand arrivals, an increase of 5.8%/+5 thousand.
At Karpathos airport there was a decrease of 9.3% -2 thousand, with air arrivals rising to 20 thousand.
In Santorini, air arrivals reached 368 thousand, registering an increase of 9.5%/+32 thousand, while in Mykonos 151 thousand air arrivals were registered, registering an increase of 3.2%/+5 thousand.
In Paros, arrivals reached 87 thousand, registering an increase of 8.2%/+7 thousand.
In Corfu, air arrivals reached 114 thousand, registering an increase of 12.3%/+13 thousand, while in Zakynthos and Kefalonia 29 thousand and 32 thousand arrivals were registered respectively, registering an increase of 3.8%/+4 mm and 8.8%/+3 thousand.
1,000 arrivals were recorded at Aktion Airport, representing an increase of 41.6%.
In Kalamata, 8 thousand arrivals were registered, marking a decrease of 8.6% compared to 2023, while in Samos arrivals reached 53 thousand, marking an increase of 4.9%/+5 thousand.
At Skiathos airport, 16,000 arrivals were recorded, representing a marginal decrease of 0.8%.
At Kavala airport there was an increase of 10.1%/+2 thousand, with air arrivals rising to 17 thousand, while at Mytilini airport 109 thousand air arrivals were recorded, marking an increase of 2.2%/+2 thousand.
Source: RES-MPE