Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Thessaloniki International Airport



Thessaloniki International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Thessaloniki International Airport "Makedonia"
Διεθνής Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Θεσσαλονίκης «Μακεδονία»
IATA: SKG – ICAO: LGTS
Summary
Airport type Civilian, military
Owner Greek Government
Serves Thessaloniki
Location Mikra, Greece
Hub for 
Elevation AMSL 22 ft / 7 m
Website 1
Maps

Map of the airport

SKG
Location of the airport in Greece
DirectionLengthSurface
mft
10/28 2,440 8,005 Asphalt
16/34 2,410 7,907 Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Passengers 3,958,475
Passenger change 10–11 1.2%
Aircraft movements 43,430
Movements change 10–11 3.4%
Sources: Air Traffic Safety Electronic Engineers Association of Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority,[1]Civil Aviation Authority[2]
1 Official airfield data at the Air Traffic Safety Electronic Engineers Association of Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority website lists no official website for the airport [1].


Thessaloniki International Airport "Macedonia" (Greek: Διεθνής Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Θεσσαλονίκης «Μακεδονία»,[3] Diethnís Kratikós Aeroliménas Thessaloníkis "Makedonía") (IATA: SKG (SaloniKaGreece)[citation needed], ICAO: LGTS), formerly known as Mikra Airport and officially known as Macedonia International Airport (Greek: Διεθνές Αεροδρόμιο Μακεδονία), is located about 15 km SE of the city center ofThessaloniki, Greece at Thermi.

The airport is the second largest state owned and operated airport in the country after Heraklion airport on the isle of Crete. It opened in 1930 and was the second busiest airport in Greece in terms of flights served and the third busiest in terms of passengers served in 2009 and 2010,[4] having served 3.9 million passengers during 2010. It is the main airport of Northern Greece and serves the city of Thessaloniki (the second-largest city inGreece), the popular tourist destination of Chalkidiki and the surrounding cities of the region.

The airport’s terminal consists of three floors. The ground floor serves arrivals only and is divided into two sections: international/extra-Schengen arrivals and domestic/intra-Schengen arrivals. The first floor serves departures and also includes a shopping centre. On this floor there are 34 check-in counters, waiting areas, bars, stores that sell tobacco and magazines and various airlines’ offices. The second floor houses two restaurants and several bars with views to the runways.

The airport has two runways (10–28 and 16–34) and two taxiways. There are 22 stands for narrow-body aircraftand about 20 for light ones. Macedonia International Airport is a hub for Astra Airlines and a secondary hub forAegean Airlines.



History 

During World War I the area that the airport currently occupies was used as an airfield and it continued operating as an airfield during World War II. At the time of the German occupation of Greece major projects took place, such as the creation of a 600m runway, while in 1948 the airport started operations as a civil airport for the first time.

In 1950 the already existing (10/28) runway got paved with asphalt at a length of 1,800m and in 1952 it was extended to 2,000m. It was the same year that the first airport building was completed, with a control tower on the roof. One year later a new runway (16/34) was built. In 1958 the runway 10/28 got reconstructed and extended to a total length of 2,440m (current length), while runway 16/34 was extended to 2,400m, with its completion in 1972. In 2004 a new parallel taxiway of the 16/34, was opened for use.

In September 1965 a new terminal building opened on a new location (current location). In the period between 1968 and 1973, the terminal was expanded, with the construction of a second floor and its first motorway junction. Due to the earthquake of 1978 in Thessaloniki, the control tower was destroyed, so a new one was constructed, independent of the main terminal building. The next expansion of the terminal took place in two stages, with the projects starting in 1991 and 1993 respectively. The municipality of Thessaloniki, as European Capital of Culture for 1997, took over a projects for the aesthetic intervention, renovation, modernisation and reorganisation of the spaces of the building.

The terminal building took its current form, when an additional of 19,000m² were added to the western and eastern side of the terminal building, completed in November 2000 and June 2003 respectively. The western extension included the widening of the international departures area (new Extra-Schengen area ), including new administration offices, a new health station and the new station control of Olympic Airlines. The eastern expansion included a new check-in hall, new waiting halls and additional administrative offices for airlines. Today the terminal has a total floor area of 32,000m². Finally, during 2004–2006 the new motorway junction was completed on the level of the departures entrance of the Terminal and new parking spaces for cars, buses and taxis were created.
Airlines and destinations [edit]
Runway 10–28
Two Aegean Airlines planes, one in Star Alliance livery, at Macedonia International Airport (June 2011).
An Aegean Airlines Airbus A320-200 at Macedonia Airport, sometime before departing for Frankfurt (April 2010)
A Ryanair plane from London Stansted Airport parked on the tarmac, with the airport terminal in the background.
Scheduled flights [edit]
operated by Alitalia CityLiner Seasonal: Rome-Fiumicino
Hamburg Airways Seasonal: Düsseldorf (begins 2 July 2013)[8][9]
Niki Seasonal: Vienna
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen (begins 3 July 2013),[10] Stockholm-Arlanda (begins 22 June 2013)[10]
SmartWings Seasonal: Prague
Wizz Air Seasonal: Budapest

[show]
International destinations map (not including Omsk and Novosibirsk)

[show]
Domestic destinations map

Seasonal charter flights [edit]
AirlinesDestinationsAegean Airlines Kazan,[13] Yerevan (begins 16 July 2013)
SunExpress Izmir (begins 22 June 2013)[citation needed]

Passenger and cargo traffic [edit]
History of passenger traffic at the airport from 1994 to 2010.

Between 1994 and 2010, Thessaloniki International Airport saw a rise in passenger traffic equal to 76%, from 2.2 million in 1994 to 3.9 million in 2010.[4] Between 2003 and 2008 the airport saw a passenger traffic increase of 19.1% from 3.5 million to almost 4.2 million passengers, an all-time high. However the number of passengers dropped in next years, to the current 3.96 million passengers.[4]

Apart from passengers, the airport also handled 8.2 thousand tons of freight in 2010, a considerable drop from the 21.4 thousand tons it handled in 1997.[4]

YearPassengers
DomesticInternationalTotal
1994 719,846 1,507,641 2,227,487
1995 795,085 1,541,134 2,336,219
1996 922,190 1,577,702 2,499,892
1997 1,108,736 1,688,430 2,797,166
1998 1,039,149 1,627,926 2,667,075
1999 1,328,976 1,857,745 3,186,721
2000 1,533,383 2,014,644 3,548,027
2001 1,343,366 2,087,453 3,430,819
2002 1,219,063 2,038,373 3,257,436

YearPassengers
DomesticInternationalTotal
2003 1,446,677 2,054,245 3,500,922
2004 1,496,411 2,124,498 3,620,909
2005 1,462,505 2,208,076 3,670,581
2006 1,486,833 2,316,021 3,802,854
2007 1,644,950 2,523,019 4,167,969
2008 1,611,883 2,557,676 4,169,559
2009 1,713,890 2,390,305 4,104,195
2010 1,682,071 2,228,680 3,910,751
2011[2] 1,487,972 2,470,503 3,958,475


Facilities [edit]
Passenger terminal
Basic [edit]

Inside the airport there is one restaurant, four coffee-bars and a tobacco store. Furthermore, except from the Duty Free shop, there are stores selling traditional products, jewellery, accessories and clothes. Passengers also can utilize a luggage secure-wrapping service and luggage lockers. An Hellenic Post post office and automated teller machines are available on the passengers’ departure area. There is also an office of the Greek National Tourism Organisation. Finally, car hire companies can be found in the airport such as AVIS, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt.

Lounges 


Macedonia International Airport operates two passenger lounges:
Aegean Club Lounge, used by business class passengers of Aegean Airlines and Star Alliance Gold members.
CIP Lounge, used by business class passengers and the gold members of Olympic Air

Aeroclub 


The airport of Thessaloniki is also the home ground of Aeolus Aviation Academy, which is a privately owned FTO and Thessaloniki Aeroclub, both offering pilot training.



Public transport 


The airport is served on a 24-hour basis by OASTH (Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization).
To downtown Thessaloniki
78/78A/78N
78A/79 to A. S. IKEA (Anatolikos Stathmos IKEA), catch bus number 36/36A/36B to Ktel Chalkidikis
78/78N to Emporiko Kentro stop, catch bus number 36/36A/36B from A. S. IKEA (Anatolikos Stathmos IKEA) OASTH bus terminus to Ktel Chalkidikis
To Macedonia Intercity Bus Station[3], where buses depart for many cities of mainland Greece, plus Corfu, Crete, Lefkada and Zakynthos. A map of the destinations served is hosted on the station's website: Bus Information – Map
78/78A/78N to T. S. KTEL (Termatikos Stathmos KTEL)
78/78A/78N to N. S. Stathmos (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos)
78 to Plateia Aristotelous stop, which is 500 metres from the port
78N to Antigonidon stop, which is 700 metres from the port
To Alba Trans bus terminus[4], where buses depart for Albania
78/78A/78N to N. S. Stathmos (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos), buses depart from Giannitson street
To Crazy Holidays[5], where buses depart for Albania
78/78A/78N to N. S. Stathmos (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos), buses depart from Kalou Michail 14 street
To Olympic Lines bus stop[6], where buses depart for Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia (from 26is Oktovriou street)
78 to I.K.A. stop
78N to Kolomvou stop

In September 2010 it was announced that an extension of the under construction Thessaloniki Metro to the airport is under consideration. The manufacturing company considers the possibility of constructing the extension with an over-ground rail-based transportation system, such as a monorail.
Car and Taxi [edit]

The airport is directly connected with the city's southeast major road arteries, the EO16 and the A25 (the Thessaloniki-Chalkidiki motorway) via the ΕΟ67; offering direct access via the Thessaloniki ring road to the A1/E75 and A2/E90 motorways; making transportation to and from Macedonia International Airport relatively easy. A total of 2,285 parking spaces for cars exist at the front of the terminal building and taxis are available at the designated taxi waiting area, located outside the arrivals exit. The taxi fare to the city center is approximately 15–20€ from 5 am to 12 pm, while from 12 pm to 5 am expect to be charged an extra 10 euros for this particular route.
Future [edit]

As part of a comprehensive masterplan released by the government in 2002, several projects have been started to improve Macedonia International Airport. Other than the building works on the current terminal, including the construction of a new cargo terminal, the masterplan features two major projects.

Runway extension 

Aerial view of the airport, showing the progress of the runway extension works.

Phase 1 of the masterplan includes the expansion of existing runway 10/28 and is currently under construction. During the process of the project design, 80 Greek and 5 Danish civil engineers and scientists from other specialties have worked on the project. Both the runway and the taxiway will be extended by 1,150m, 1,000m out into the sea, resulting in a runway that will have a total length of 3,440m with an extra safety distance of 150m. Its width will be 50m while the taxiway’s width, which will be located at an axial distance of 183m from the runway, will be 23m. The new runway and taxiway sections, will be equipped with appropriate lighting and control systems that will extend a further 750m into the sea. The completion date was set in 2011, but due to financial problems of the manufacturing company, reactions of environmental organizations and residents of the surrounding areas, fearing ecological dangers by extenting land into the sea, the project has been held back. A new completion date for 2013 was set,[20] only to be pushed further back to late 2015.[21] The expansion of the runway will allow for the landing of larger aircraft, such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380, and increase safety, as the aircraft will have greater flexibility and visual contact on days with bad weather conditions.

Terminal 2 


Phase 2 of the masterplan has heralded the construction of a new larger terminal, together with a new apron for 36 aircraft, of which 14 will be stationed at contact place. The second phase of the masterplan will drasticly increase the status of the airport and eliminate existing passenger traffic problems, especially during the summer period. The new terminal will be able to accommodate 8 million passengers per year (in peak hours 2.800 passengers for departures or arrivals) while the terminal’s total area is expected that it will be 115.000m².[22] In December 2010, the Greek government revealed that there are thoughts for the construction of the new terminal through private investing, the same way in which Athens International Airport was realised. Until now no further official announcement has been issued.
Macedonia International Airport masterplan



The new terminal. 



Map of the airport after the completion of both phases. 

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