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Fraport Ups Investments at 14 Regional Airports in View of Rising Arrivals

Photo: GTP

Macedonia Airport, Thessaloniki. Photo: GTP

With traffic up by 11 percent to 6.25 million passengers in the first five months of the year, Fraport Greece said on Monday, that it would be accelerating its renovation works at the 14 regional airports across Greece it manages.

Fraport GreeceSpeaking to the press on Monday, Fraport Greece CEO Alexander Zinell said he expects a double-digit percentage rise in passenger traffic at the airports the company operates.

The 14 airports handled 27.6 million passengers in 2017, a 10.3 percent annual rise. However, Zinell said “we are not yet satisfied… airport management is a complex matter”, adding that the consortium was moving ahead with renovation projects at all its airports as “we have managed to secure a large number of permits and approvals required to implement our 450-million-euro investment plan for the revamp of airports, having completed the first round of upgrade works”.

Fraport Greece CEO Alexander Zinell.

“There is still a long way to go before the 14 regional airports change radically,” said Zinell, adding that the said facilities were in a state of disrepair when the consortium signed the 40-year lease and took over.

Speaking to capital.gr, Zinell added that this situation, which was not in line with the agreement signed, required more investments and Fraport Greece had to also claim damages worth 60 million euros from the Greek State. A Disputes Resolution Committee decided the value of losses came to 27 million euros.

In view of the situation, Fraport Greece, went on to revise its investment budget upward from 330 million euros to 450 million euros.

An impression of the Macedonia Airport, Photo Source; Fraport Greece

An impression of the Macedonia Airport. Photo Source; Fraport Greece

Fraport’s investments in the 14 regional airports are listed as follows: 87.3 million euros in the Macedonia Airport, with a target for 2021; 35.7 million euros in Corfu Airport, aiming for 2021; 23.9 million euros for Kefalonia Airport with an outlook to 2029; 43.8 million euros for the airport of Kos aiming for 2021; 19.8 million euros for Lesvos Airport with 2020 as a goal; 9.1 million euros in Aktion Airport set for 2019; 24.6 million euros in Mykonos Airport with the aim of 2021; 13.5 million euros in Samos Airport for 2019; 26.6 million euros for Santorini Airport by 2021; 15.7 million euros in Skiathos Airport by 2019; 4,8 million euros in Chania Airport by 2019; 13.7 million euros in Zakynthos Airport with the aim of 2019; 10.7 million in Kavala Airport by 2019; and 35.4 million euros in Rhodes Airport by 2020.

Chania airport.

Fraport’s CEO said he expects revenue to increase at a 10 percent rate in 2018, and added that the group was looking to attract more traffic over the winter, mainly for its most popular airports. One of the group’s immediate priorities is to boost connections to the 14 airports and to attract new airlines. In terms of incoming traffic: Germany (24 percent), Britain (24.3 percent), the Netherlands, Italy, Cyprus, Sweden, Poland, France, Belgium and Finland account for 83 percent of all international arrivals. Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Chania are the group’s busiest airports.

In relevant news, addressing the 2nd Imports and Transports conference last month, Zinell said the company was interested in exploring a collaboration with the government for the management of 23 smaller airports with the aim of increasing passenger traffic.

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About the Author
Chicago-born and raised, Maria Paravantes has over two decades of journalistic experience covering tourism and travel, gastronomy, arts, music and culture, economy and finance, politics, health and social issues for international press and media. She has worked for Reuters, The Telegraph, Huffington Post, Billboard Magazine, Time Out Athens, the Athens News, Odyssey Magazine and SETimes.com, among others. She has also served as Special Advisor to Greece’s minister of Foreign Affairs, and to the mayor of Athens on international press and media issues. Maria is currently a reporter, content and features writer for GTP Headlines.

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