Behind the thousands of passenger planes that arrive and depart every day from Hellas an “air bridge” of private flights was also created, unprecedented by Greek standards. Every 20 minutes a private plane lands or takes off. Greek airport. In fact, there have been a lot more planes in the last two months bringing mostly foreign guests, mostly to airports of Athens, Mykonos, Thessaloniki, Santorini, Corfu but also her Kalamata.

According with data collected by “Kathimerini”private flights during the first seven months of 2022 to and from Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, as well as to 14 regional airports operated by Fraport Greece increased by 40% compared to the corresponding period in 2019. The significant renewal of the Greek brand name internationally and the ranking of many Greek destinations among the best in the world, coupled with significant upgrades in infrastructure and services provided in recent years, explain the reasons for such a boom, experts explain.

From the beginning of January this year to the end of July, there were around 6,000 private flights, according to Fraport Greece, an increase of around 20% compared to the first seven months of 2019, a record. year for Greek tourism and the last before the pandemic. Most of these private flights go to Mykonos and Santorini, as well as Thessaloniki, Corfu and other regional airports. The new Delos Lounge in Mykonos, created to serve passengers on these flights, is undergoing major developments this year, as is Eleftherios Venizelos General Aviation Terminal, which handles private flights. There were 8,149 flights at Athens International Airport in the first seven months of this year, compared to 4,866 in the corresponding period of 2019. This is about 3,300 more flights, i.e. an indicator of about 67%. Together, these 15 airports received more than 14,000 flights by the end of July, which means an average of three flights per hour every hour of the day and every day of the week. But there are more flights: if you include private flights to Kazantzakis airport in Heraklion, Crete and other airports such as Kalamata, the number of flights will increase to more than 15,000. And this is not counting, of course, private helicopter flights, of which there are only Spata has exceeded 2500 since the beginning of the year.

At Greek airports, a private plane lands or takes off every twenty minutes.

The upgrading of the Greek tourism product towards a higher income level, as well as a booming foreign-driven resort property market on the islands as well as in mainland Greece, are fueling this rapidly growing aviation market.

This is transportation carried out by private or leased aircraft, a significant number of which can be seen on the outskirts of Greek airports, where there are now few parking spaces. As a general rule, in Mykonos and Santorini, these aircraft must leave within 40 minutes per hour, since high passenger traffic is prioritized and they cannot occupy valuable airport real estate as it develops. At other airports, pilots are often advised to transfer to other airports where space is available, such as Kavala.

Eleftherios Venizelos airport in Athens certainly has more potential, but the development of this part of air transport is pushing the ability to accept private jets to the limit. But not the quality of the services provided: according to the international aviation associations, Greece is on the lists of the best airports and has the least problems internationally in terms of delays. “I am particularly pleased with the work of all those involved in the 14 regional airports, not only in terms of time, but also in terms of quality of service, at a time when major European airports are facing huge challenges,” he notes. talking with Fraport Greece “Kathimerini” CEO Development Giorgos Vilos. As for the trend of international flights in general, he is optimistic that August will be as dynamic as July, with international flights also up 11% compared to July 2019. However, he notes that “we must all remain vigilant.” because hard times may be ahead of us.”