Kavala International Airport

Kavala International Airport "Alexander the Great" (Greek: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας «Μέγας Αλέξανδρος»,[2] Kratikós Aeroliménas Kaválas "Mégas Aléxandros") (IATA: KVA, ICAO: LGKV) is an airport located in the municipality of Nestos, in Greece.

This article is about the Kavala Airport. For other uses, see Alexander the Great Airport (disambiguation).

Kavala International Airport "Alexander The Great"

Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας, "Μέγας Αλέξανδρος"
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorFraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture
ServesKavala
LocationChrysoupoli
Elevation AMSL18 ft / 5 m
Coordinates40°54′48″N 024°37′09″E
Websitekva-airport.gr
Map
KVA is located in Greece
KVA
KVA
Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
05R/23L 3,000 9,844 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers251,615
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 68.7%
Aircraft movements2,587
Aircraft movements changeIncrease 33.3%
Sources: Fraport-Greece [1]

History
The terminal
Airport's interior

Kavala's first airport was located closer to Kavala, in the installations of the Greek Air Force, near the village of Amygdaleonas, where it began its operations in 1952 as Kavala National Airport. On 12 October 1981, a new airport opened near the town of Chrysoupoli, where it still operates. The relocation greatly improved the service to the nearby island of Thasos and the city of Xanthi, in addition to the continued service to the cities of Kavala and Drama.

A bust of Alexander the Great in Kavala airport

The airport was initially used only for domestic flights, as the original name implies. In December 1987, by a joint decision of the Minister of Presidency and the Minister for Transport and Communications it was renamed to Kavala International Airport to be again renamed in January 1992 to Kavala International Airport "Megas Alexandros", by a decision of the Minister for Transport and Communications.

At the beginning of its operation at its new location, the building infrastructure of the airport included only a terminal building. The control tower, the fire station and the other installations were built later. A small extension to the terminal building was added in 1992. The runway had been built, with the same dimensions that it has today. In 1998, extensive works began for new building infrastructure and today the airport of Kavala is functioning as a single upgraded total (old and new installations together), including all modern facilities for service both to airlines and passengers, contributing to the growth of East Macedonia and Thrace.

In December 2015, the privatisation of Kavala International Airport and 13 other regional airports of Greece was finalised with the signing of the agreement between the Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatisation fund.[3] "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.[4] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Kavala International Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

Fraport Greece's investment plan

On 22 March 2017, Fraport Greece presented its master plan for the 14 Greek regional airports, including the International Airport of Kavala.[5]

Immediate actions, to be implemented as soon as Fraport Greece takes over operations, before the launch of the 2017 summer season included:

  • General clean-up
  • Improving lighting, marking of airside areas
  • Upgrading sanitary facilities
  • Enhancing services and offering a new free Internet connection (WiFi)
  • Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airports

The following summarizes the enhancement changes that will start in October 2017 and will be implemented for Kavala International Airport, under Fraport Greece's investment plan, by 2021:

  • Terminal expansion by 2,029 m2
  • Remodeling the current terminal
  • HBS inline screening
  • Refurbishing and expanding the fire station
  • Expanding the waste water treatment plant or connection to municipal service
  • Reorganizing the airport apron area
  • Refurbishing the airside pavement
  • 20 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 8 to 10)

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Kavala Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens (begins 29 October 2023)[6]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna[7]
Braathens International Airways Seasonal charter: Copenhagen, Oslo
Buzz Seasonal charter: Katowice, Poznan, Riga, Warsaw-Chopin (begins 27 May 2024)
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt
Eurowings Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
Finnair Seasonal charter:Helsinki
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal charter: Warsaw-chopin, Vilnius
Marathon Airlines Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[8]
Olympic Air Athens (ends 29 October 2023)[9]
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal charter:Stockholm-Arlanda
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Bratislava, Brno, Prague
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham, London–Gatwick, Manchester
TUI fly Netherlands Seasonal: Amsterdam

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at KVA airport. See Wikidata query.

The data taken from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) until 2016 and from 2017 onwards from the Fraport Greece website.

Year Passengers
Domestic International Total
2010 143,333 152,861 296,194
2011 Decrease93,271 Increase159,036 Decrease252,307
2012 Decrease68,232 Decrease135,013 Decrease203,245
2013 Decrease64,545 Increase144,855 Increase209,400
2014 Increase73,340 Increase149,625 Increase222,965
2015 Increase78,745 Increase165,000 Increase243,745
2016 Decrease77,540 Increase192,435 Increase269,975
2017 Decrease75,284 Increase262,679 Increase337,963
2018 Decrease75,026 Increase331,923 Increase406,949
2019 Decrease68,328 Decrease254,982 Decrease323,310
2020 Decrease25.767 Decrease46.907 Decrease72.674
2021 Increase32,708 Increase116,438 Increase149,146
2022 Increase44,361 Increase207,254 Increase251,615
2023(Sep) Increase42,633 Increase234,687 Increase277,320


Traffic statistics by country (2022)
Traffic by country at Kavala International Airport – 2022
Place Country Total pax
1 Germany Germany 109,254
2 Greece Greece 44,361
3 United Kingdom United Kingdom 24,930
4 Poland Poland 19,054
5 Czech Republic Czech Republic 11,082
6 Austria Austria 6,848
7 Lithuania Lithuania 6,259
8 Sweden Sweden 5,614
9 Belgium Belgium 5,448
10 Slovakia Slovakia 5,072

[10]

See also

References
  1. "KAVALA AIRPORT "M.ALEXANDROS"" (PDF).
  2. "Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας 'Μ. Αλέξανδρος' (ΚΑΚΒΑ)". Hellenic Civilian Aviation Authority. hcaa.gr. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  3. "Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport | TornosNews.gr".
  4. "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport".
  5. "Fraport Greece’s Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports", fraport-greece.com
  6. "Aegean Airlines / Olympic Air NW23 Domestic Operation Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  7. "Austrian Airlines Adds Service to Kavala, Greece, for Summer 2022". 27 January 2022.
  8. "Marathon Airlines assumes Idealtours-charter". aviation.direct (in German). 7 December 2022.
  9. "Aegean Airlines / Olympic Air NW23 Domestic Operation Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  10. https://www.kva-airport.gr/uploads/sys_nodelng/2/2881/Traffic%20by%20Country_2022_KVA.pdf
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