Covid-19 Travel Restrictions Cut Passenger Traffic at Greek Airports in January

Photo source: HCAA

Passenger traffic through all of Greece’s airports dropped by 83 percent in the first month of the year compared to January 2020, as a result of ongoing travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) said on Friday.

“This big drop was expected, as in January 2020 no restrictive measures were imposed on travel and flights, since the pandemic occurred in Greece at the end of February 2020,” the HCAA underlined.

A total of 383,463 passengers went through Greek airports in January, down by 83 percent, compared to 2.25 million in the same month a year ago.

Over the same month, Greek airports handled 10,015 flights – 7,448 domestic and 2,567 international – marking a 56.3 percent decline against 22,900 flights in total in the corresponding 2020 period.

International passenger arrivals in Greece fell by 90.3 percent to 60,018 in January compared to 617.814 during the same month in 2020.

Athens Airport

Athens International Airport’s (AIA) January 2021 passenger traffic was below the respective 2020 levels by 84.2 percent to 233,359 passengers. Both domestic and international passenger traffic were sharply reduced, by 74.5 percent and 88.2 percent, respectively.

“The airport’s passenger traffic continued to be substantially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis and its impact on air travel in the first month of 2021, with Greece’s second national lockdown still in place,” AIA said in an announcement.

AIA’s number of flights during January 2021 amounted to 5,790, down by 57.9 percent compared to the respective 2020 levels, severely impacted by flight cancellations due to the pandemic. Domestic flights were reduced by 39.5 percent and international operations by 69.7 percent compared to 2020 levels.

According to further information released, compared to 2019 levels, the drop in passenger traffic and flights in January at AIA was 83.2 percent and 57.6 percent, respectively.

Greek regional airports

Total traffic figures for the 14 Greek regional airports managed by Fraport Greece declined by 82.7 percent to 108,907 passengers in January 2021.

International passenger arrivals fell by 91.4 percent to 21,432, while domestic traffic reached 87,475 passengers, down by 76.8 percent. The number of flights at the 14 Greek airports during that month amounted to 3,157, down by 52.1 percent compared to the respective 2020 levels.

Fraport Greece manages the airports of Aktio, Chania, Corfu, Kavala, Kefalonia, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos, Kos, Mytilini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini and Skiathos.

Thessaloniki’s airport recorded the largest percentage decrease – by 87 percent – in January, welcoming only 52,232 passengers compared to 401,816 in the corresponding month in 2020.