Rhodes International Airport

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδου "Διαγόρας"), or Diagoras International Airport (IATA: RHO, ICAO: LGRP), is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located just north of the village Paradeisi, about 14 km southwest of the capital city, Rodos. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, with 5,542,567 passengers utilizing the airport.[2]

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras"

Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδος "Διαγόρας"
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGreek state
OperatorFraport Greece
ServesRhodes
LocationParadeisi
Hub forOlympic Air
Focus city forAegean Airlines
Elevation AMSL6 m / 19 ft
Coordinates36°24′19.51″N 28°05′10.29″E
Websiterho-airport.gr
Map
RHO is located in Greece
RHO
RHO
Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 3,305 10,844 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passengers1.551.123
Passenger traffic changeDecrease 72.0%
Aircraft movements14.801
Aircraft movements changeDecrease 60,5%
Runway[1] Statistics[2]

History
Check-in at Rhodes Airport

Civil aviation on Rhodes started after the Second World War, on the location of the nearby military Rhodes Maritsa Airport.

This was the island's main airport until 1977, when the new Rhodes International Airport was opened. The need for a new facility was big, as the 'old' Maritsa airport did not meet the needs for a modern civil airport. The new "Diagoras" airport was built in 1977. It was decided that, on this location, it would meet the needs of the island better.

Improvements have been made to the airport, like expansion of taxiways, platform and airport buildings. The most recent upgrade is a new passenger terminal, opened in 2005, to accommodate the growing number of charter flights and passengers. The airport's plants currently cover a total area of 60,000 m2[3]

On 21 September 2015, Rhodes Airport was closed for 14 hours after a 'sinkhole' appeared in the runway. Flights were diverted to surrounding airports such as Kos and Heraklion as well as Athens and the runway was fixed and reopened the following day.

In December 2015, the privatisation of Rhodes 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.[4] "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.[5] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Rhodes International Airport) for 40 years as of autumn 2016.

Facilities

Terminal

Rhodes Airport terminal is actually 2 separate buildings with a joined corridor in the middle. Departures are served both in ground (check-ins, baggage checks) and first floor (passenger screening, gates, shops) while arrivals are served only in ground floor's southern corner where passport control, customs and baggage reclaim operate. Airport does not have air bridges so boarding and disembarking require the use of buses.

Both terminals are and will be under renovations for the next couple of years from Fraport as a series of chronic problems need to be addressed. Toilets and air conditioning system were first to be fixed while more complicated works including new check in facilities that will eliminate double checks for baggage as well interior remodeling will proceed gradually during low traffic winter months.

Airport also hosts all necessary services such as a police station, a medical clinic, airline and handlers offices, rent-a-car and tour operators kiosks, VIP halls as well recently refurbished duty-free shops, cafes and restaurants.

Runway

The airport's single runway direction is 065/245 degrees (designated as 06/24), having a length of 3,305 meters and a width of 60 meters. There are two taxiways and four taxi links connecting the runway with the apron. The apron with the new pushback configuration can accommodate up to 20 ICAO reference category C or smaller airplanes, simultaneously. Three parking positions have MARS (Multiple Apron Ramp System) capability and can accommodate larger category D and E aircraft, such as the Airbus A330, A340 and A350 and the Boeing 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787. There is a small general aviation apron with three dedicated positions for small propelled or jet aircraft.

Future of the airport - Fraport Greece’s investment plan

On 22 March 2017, the Fraport-Greece presented its master plan for the 14 regional airports including the International Airport of Rhodes.[6]

The following summarizes the enhancement changes that started in November 2017 and will be implemented for Rhodes International Airport under Fraport Greece's investment plan: Immediate actions that were implemented at the airports as soon as Fraport Greece took over operations and 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 new free Internet connection (WiFi)
  • Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airports
  • Remodeling the current terminal
  • Reorganizing the airport apron area
  • New fire station
  • 13 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 40 to 45)
  • 13 percent increase in the number of departure gates (from 16 to 18)
  • 71 percent in the number of security-check lanes (from 7 to 12)
  • 25 percent increase in the number of baggage reclaim belts (from 4 to 5)

Airlines and destinations

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

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens, Thessaloniki (begins 29 October 2023)[7]
Seasonal: Belgrade,[8] Tel Aviv
Seasonal charter: Friedrichshafen[9]
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga, Tallinn,[10] Tampere[11]
Air France Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[12]
Air Serbia Seasonal: Belgrade[13]
Animawings[14] Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni
Arkia Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
Bluebird Airways Seasonal: Tel Aviv
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[15] London–Heathrow[16]
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[17]
Chair Airlines Seasonal: Zürich
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg (begins 2 May 2024),[18] Stuttgart, Zürich[19]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hannover, Nuremberg
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels,[20] Groningen,[21] Maastricht/Aachen[22]
Cyprus Airways Seasonal: Larnaca
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich
easyJet Seasonal: Amsterdam, Basel/Mulhouse,[23] Belfast–International,[24] Berlin, Birmingham (begins 2 April 2024),[25] Bordeaux, Bristol, Edinburgh,[26] London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester,[26] Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Orly, Toulouse,[27] Venice
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zürich
Enter Air Seasonal charter: Katowice,[28] Kraków[28]
European Air Charter Seasonal charter: Linz
Eurowings Seasonal: Berlin[29] Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund,[30] Düsseldorf, Graz,[29] Hamburg, Prague,[29] Salzburg, Stuttgart[31]
Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[32]
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Bern,[33] Zürich
Israir Airlines Seasonal: Haifa,[34] Tel Aviv
ITA Airways Seasonal: Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino[35]
Jet2.com Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool (begins 2 May 2024),[36] London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
Leav Aviation Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn[37]
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin[38]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Marabu Seasonal: Hamburg, Munich
Neos Seasonal: Bergamo, Bologna, Catania, Milan–Malpensa, Rimini, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona[39]
Nordica Seasonal charter: Tallinn[40]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen,[41] Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Seasonal charter: Stavanger,[42] Trondheim
Olympic Air Karpathos (begins 1 November 2023), Kasos (begins 1 November 2023), Kastellorizo, Sitia (begins 1 November 2023),[43] Thessaloniki (ends 28 October 2023)[7]
Seasonal: Heraklion
Pegasus Airlines Seasonal: Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[44]
Ryanair Seasonal: Bergamo, Berlin, Birmingham,[45] Bologna, Budapest, Charleroi, Dublin,[45] East Midlands, Edinburgh,[46] Kaunas, Kraków,[47] London–Stansted, Manchester, Marseille,[48] Naples, Paphos, Pisa, Prague, Rome–Ciampino, Sofia,[49] Vienna, Warsaw–Modlin, Weeze
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen[50]
Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[51] Luleå,[52] Stockholm–Arlanda,[51] Trondheim[53]
Sky Express Astypalaia, Athens, Chios, Heraklion, Kalymnos, Karpathos (ends 28 October 2023), Kasos (ends 28 October 2023), Kos, Lemnos, Leros, Mytilene, Samos
Seasonal charter: Cluj-Napoca,[54] Timișoara,[54] Weeze[55]
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Münster/Osnabrück[56]
Smartwings Seasonal: Bratislava,[57] Brno, Katowice, Košice, Ostrava, Prague, Warsaw–Chopin
Seasonal charter: Budapest, České Budějovice[58]
Sunclass Airlines Seasonal charter: Bergen,[59] Billund,[60] Copenhagen,[60] Borlänge,[61] Gothenburg,[61] Helsinki,[62] Karlstad,[61] Malmö,[61] Molde,[59] Norrköping,[61] Örebro,[61] Oslo,[59] Stavanger,[59] Stockholm–Arlanda,[61] Trondheim,[59] Växjö[61]
Sundair Seasonal: Berlin, Bremen, Dresden
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Geneva
Sun d'Or Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Lyon,[63] Nantes,[64] Paris–Orly
TUI Airways[65] Seasonal: Aberdeen (ends 27 September 2023),[65] Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Dublin,[66] East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels, Liège, Ostend/Bruges
TUI fly Deutschland Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart
TUI fly Netherlands Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam
TUI fly Nordic Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[67] Norrköping, Stockholm–Arlanda[67]
Tus Airways Seasonal: Tel Aviv[68]
Volotea Seasonal: Lyon (begins 13 April 2024),[69] Nantes, Naples
Vueling Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[70]
Wizz Air[71] Seasonal: Budapest, Rome–Fiumicino,[72] Tel Aviv,[73] Warsaw–Chopin,[74] Wrocław[75]

Traffic figures
Annual passenger traffic at RHO airport. See Wikidata query.

Figures are taken from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) [76] until 2016 and since 2017 from the official website of the airport.[77]

Year Passengers
Domestic International Total
1994 380,072 2,111,714 2,491,786
1995 Increase419,701 Decrease1,924,922 Decrease2,344,623
1996 Increase477,396 Decrease1,764,121 Decrease2,241,517
1997 Increase559,768 Increase1,955,527 Increase2,515,295
1998 Decrease535,284 Increase2,137,028 Increase2,672,312
1999 Increase638,389 Increase2,653,129 Increase3,291,518
2000 Increase720,560 Increase2,686,490 Increase3,407,050
2001 Decrease682,469 Increase2,745,706 Increase3,428,175
2002 Decrease628,837 Decrease2,601,646 Decrease3,230,483
2003 Increase689,315 Decrease2,476,755 Decrease3,166,070
2004 Increase697,873 Decrease2,338,650 Decrease3,036,523
2005 Increase750,476 Increase2,457,038 Increase3,207,514
2006 Increase809,965 Increase2,681,557 Increase3,491,522
2007 Increase839,326 Increase2,786,636 Increase3,625,962
2008 Increase843,529 Decrease2,723,940 Decrease3,567,469
2009 Decrease826,677 Decrease2,643,434 Decrease3,470,111
2010 Decrease736,566 Increase2,850,006 Increase3,586,572
2011 Decrease676,463 Increase3,471,923 Increase4,148,386
2012 Decrease600,167 Decrease3,213,780 Decrease3,813,947
2013 Increase626,594 Increase3,573,465 Increase4,200,059
2014 Increase691,040 Increase3,861,016 Increase4,552,056
2015 Increase793,025 Decrease3,785,998 Increase4,579,023
2016 Increase848,878 Increase4,093,508 Increase4,942,386
2017 Increase868,459 Increase4,432,764 Increase5,301,223
2018 Decrease829,475 Increase4,738,273 Increase5,567,748
2019 Decrease803,996 Increase4,738,571 Decrease5,542,567
2020 Decrease352,985 Decrease1,198,138 Decrease1,551,123
2021 Increase516,927 Increase2,849,687 Increase3,366,614
2022 Increase708,866 Increase5,148,170 Increase5,857,036
2023(Sep) Increase636,997 Increase4,651,143 Increase5,288,140

Traffic statistics by country (2022)
Traffic by country at Rhodes International Airport – 2022[78]
Place Country Total pax
1 United Kingdom United Kingdom 1,166,817
2 Germany Germany 1,070,116
3 Greece Greece 708,866
4 Poland Poland 335,527
5 Israel Israel 253,602
6 France France 249,237
7 Sweden Sweden 238,791
8 Italy Italy 213,021
9 Finland Finland 204,979
10 Denmark Denmark 199,006
11 Netherlands Netherlands 198,293
12 Czech Republic Czech Republic 165,017
13 Belgium Belgium 151,558
14 Norway Norway 143,534
15 Austria Austria 140,675

See also

References
  1. Jeppesen aerodrome charts
  2. "RODOS AIRPORT "DIAGORAS"". rho-airport.gr. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. "Rhodes Diagoras International Airport History, Facts and Overview". Airports Guides. airports-guides.com. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  4. "Tornos News | Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport". tornosnews.gr. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  5. "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport | Reuters". uk.reuters.com. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  6. "Fraport Greece’s Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports", fraport-greece.com
  7. "Aegean Airlines / Olympic Air NW23 Domestic Operation Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  8. "Aegean to launch two new Belgrade routes". 26 October 2021.
  9. "Summer schedule 2023 preview - Friedrichshafen Airport" (PDF).
  10. "AirBaltic announces 18 new routes from all three Baltic capitals in Summer 2023". 28 September 2022.
  11. "Expanding North: AirBaltic Launches New Base in Tampere, Finland". 14 December 2021.
  12. "Air France : Sept destinations en Grèce cet été | Air Journal". 24 March 2021.
  13. "Air Serbia to launch new destinations in Greece". 13 December 2022.
  14. "Animawings NS23 Operations – 06FEB23". AeroRoutes.
  15. "British Airways Announces Routes and Starts Selling Seats for ITS New Gatwick Short-Haul Subsidiary".
  16. "GET INTO THE 2020 HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH SIX NEW BRITISH AIRWAYS ROUTES FROM HEATHROW". British Airways. 12 December 2019.
  17. "Brussels Airlines prepares for summer with the reopening of attractive holiday destinations". press.brusselsairlines.com. 24 February 2021.
  18. "CONDOR NS24 EUROPE NETWORK ADDITIONS – 06AUG23".
  19. "In summer 2021 Condor will fly from Zurich to the most popular vacation destinations". condor-newsroom.condor.com. 29 October 2020.
  20. "Corendon significantly expands its offer on the Belgian market: 22 destinations from Brussels, 9 from Maastricht". 14 March 2022.
  21. "Behalve TUI breiden ook Corendon en Sunweb aanbod uit op Groningen Airport Eelde". 26 January 2023.
  22. "Corendon hervat op 8 juni vakantievluchten vanaf Maastricht Airport". Luchtvaartnieuws.nl. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  23. https://www.easyjet.com/en/cheap-flights/basel-mulhouse-freiburg/rhodes
  24. "EasyJet expands Belfast International Airport base with direct route to Rhodes and 40 new jobs announced". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  25. "Agents gain early access to packages as EasyJet adds 15 Birmingham routes".
  26. "Routes In Brief: December's Rolling Daily Updates | Routes". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021.
  27. "EasyJet ajoute Orly – Porto, Toulouse – Rhodes à son réseau | Air Journal". 9 February 2023.
  28. "Charter flights". tui.pl.
  29. "New Routes and Destinations". 6 December 2022.
  30. "Neue Eurowings-Verbindung ab Dortmund". airliners.de.
  31. "Eurowings expands Stuttgart service in S17". Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  32. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. "Flights to Rhodes (RHO) | Helvetic Airways".
  34. Liu, Jim (3 February 2020). "Israir adds Haifa – Rhodes service from June 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  35. "ITA Airways: New Seasonal Flights to Greek Islands from Italy for Summer 2023". 24 November 2022.
  36. Ltd, Jacobs Media Group. "Jet2 unveils 11th base at Liverpool John Lennon Airport". Travel Weekly.
  37. "Cologne/Bonn: Leav Aviation starts scheduled flights". 12 May 2023.
  38. "LOT uruchomi na wakacje 130 połączeń do kilkudziesięciu europejskich kurortów". 24 June 2020.
  39. "Flight Times". neosair.it/en.
  40. "Nordica April 2023 Charter Network Additions".
  41. "Destinations - Norwegian". Archived from the original on 7 June 2012.
  42. "Only Flight". tui.no.
  43. "Ξεκινούν νέες πτήσεις από το αεροδρόμιο Σητείας - Για ποιούς προορισμούς". 2 September 2023.
  44. "Cheap Flights to Rhodes | Pegasus Airlines".
  45. "Ryanair to Open New Bases on Corfu, Rhodes, Crete for Summer 2021". 24 March 2021.
  46. "Ryanair will launch a new route from Edinburgh to Rhodes, Greece".
  47. "2 nowe wakacyjne trasy Ryanaira z Polski! Jedna wraca po krótkiej przerwie".
  48. "De nouvelles destinations cet hiver au départ de Marseille avec Ryanair". 18 November 2022.
  49. "Нова дестинация: Ryanair ще лети от София до Родос, полети ще има и до още два гръцки острова". 3 February 2023.
  50. Liu, Jim (9 October 2019). "SAS S20 Short-Haul network changes as of 08OCT19". routesonline.com.
  51. "Resor till Rhodos, Grekland | Airtours charter".
  52. "Billiga flygbiljetter med apollo - boka din flygresa utomlands på apollo.se!".
  53. "Billige flybilletter | Bestill flybilletter | Apollo".
  54. "SKY EXPRESS NS23 ROMANIA CHARTER NETWORK EXPANSION".
  55. "Sunweb: nu ook vakantievluchten vanaf Weeze en uitbreiding op Brussels Airport". luchtvaartnieuws.nl. 14 December 2022.
  56. "Smartlynx NS23 Muenster Network Additions".
  57. "Letový poriadok LETO 2022". Letisko Bratislava (BTS) - oficiálna stránka. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  58. "Čedok rozšiřuje chartery z Českých Budějovic, z jižních Čech bude nově létat na Krétu | Airways.cz".
  59. "Flight". ving.no.
  60. "Flight". spies.dk.
  61. "Flight". ving.se.
  62. "Flight". tjareborg.fi.
  63. "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA".
  64. Liu, Jim. "Transavia France S20 network expansion as of 17JAN20". Routesonline. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  65. "Flight Timetable". tui.co.uk. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  66. "TUI Airways NS23 Ireland Operations – 21MAR23".
  67. "Boka flyg - här hittar och bokar du din nästa flygresa | TUI.se".
  68. "Tus Air". Tusairways.com. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  69. "Aéroport de Lyon : Volotea ouvre de nouvelles lignes, Marrakech dès 29 euros". 4 October 2023.
  70. "Vueling open 24 new routes from Rome". Vuelingnews.com. 20 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013.
  71. "Operating Routes". Wizzair.com. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  72. "Stamattina conferenza-stampa Wizz Air a Roma". 17 November 2021.
  73. "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA".
  74. "Wyborcza.pl".
  75. "Wizz Air launches new routes from two Polish airports this summer – The First News". Thefirstnews.com. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  76. "RODOS AIRPORT", ypa.gr
  77. "Air Traffic statistics", rho-airport.gr
  78. https://www.rho-airport.gr/uploads/sys_nodelng/2/2883/Traffic%20by%20Country_2022_RHO.pdf
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.