Small airports on Greek islands see growth this summer while Athens stumbles

Greece’s troubled economy is more reliant that many in Europe on in-bound tourism. Latest figures from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority for the peak month of July show that passenger numbers across all Greek airports are down 4.3% compared with last July, but are above the level of July 2009 and July 2010. However, if we exclude Athens (the country’s busiest airport where passenger numbers fell by 12% in July), traffic levels at all other Greek airports combined is down just 1.3% compared with July 2011.

Regardless of growth or reductions, Athens remains the busiest airport in Greece. Photo courtesy of www.anna.aero.

Among Greece’s top 15 airports in July, eight of them reported a reduction in year-on-year traffic, while seven reported growth. The fastest-growing Greek airport this summer is Kefallinia (also known as Kefalonia), located on one of the Ionian Islands to the west of the Greek mainland.