According to airport operator Fraport Greece, traffic through 14 regional airports in Greece surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels by 9.4 percent in August, reaching 5.99 million passengers compared to 5.48 million in the same month in 2019.
In particular, traffic through the country’s 14 regional airports, which include three mainland gateways in Greece (Thessaloniki, Aktion, and Kavala) and 11 Greek islands (Chania on Crete, Corfu, Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos, and Zakynthos), increased by 3.3 percent in June, 11.1 percent in July, and 9.4 percent in August.
Passenger traffic increased by 2.2 percent in the first eight months of 2022 to 22.21 million passengers compared to 21.73 million in 2019 – a 2.2 percent increase – and by 111.8 percent compared to 2021.
International passenger traffic increased by 12.1 percent to 5.21 million, while domestic passenger traffic decreased by 5.7 percent to 0.78 million.
Santorini airport increased by 39.8 percent in August compared to 2019, Aktion by 22.9 percent, Corfu by 20.2 percent, and Skiathos by 18.4 percent.
Lesvos airport was down 10.9 percent, Kavala (10.7 percent), and Thessaloniki (10.7 percent) (8.3 percent). During the eight-month period January-August, traffic at Thessaloniki, Lesvos, and Samos airports fell.
The country’s regional airports handled 18.07 million passengers from January to August, representing a 6.4 percent increase in international visitors but a 12.7 percent decrease in domestic travel to 4.14 million.
During the same time period, the following airports saw increased traffic: Aktion (21.7%), Corfu (13.4%), Mykonos (10.2%), Rhodes (4.6%), Santorini (18.6%), Skiathos (12.9%), Kos (0.9%), Zakynthos (3.6%), Kefalonia (5%) and Chania (5%). (8.8 percent).
Thessaloniki (16.6 percent), Lesvos (13.7 percent), Samos (5.7 percent), and Kavala airports saw a decrease in traffic (20.6 percent).
The country’s main airport, AIA in Athens, fell 6.1 percent short of pre-pandemic 2019 levels in August, welcoming a total of 2.85 million passengers.
