Samos International Airport (also known as Aristarchos) is an airport on

Samos Island Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate r ...

, Greece. The airport is named after

Aristarchos of Samos Aristarchus of Samos (; grc-gre, Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σάμιος, ''Aristarkhos ho Samios''; ) was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known heliocentric model that placed the Sun at the center of the kn ...

, an ancient astronomer and mathematician, and lies within 5 km from the nearby town of Pythagorio. The airport features a single short runway serving both arrivals and departures. The airports surroundings leave little room for error or mistake on the behalf of the pilots – with nearby mountains and sea at the end of the short runway. There are often strong Meltemi winds blowing from the north during the summer months which further contribute to the difficulty of the landing. There is only one terminal in the airport. There are five boarding gates, none of which have jet-bridges. Passenger facilities are split across two floors and include a

duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...

and a small café.

History

The airport first operated in May 1976 and during the late 1990s/early 2000s, the terminal was renovated – the capacity of the airport was increased to deal with increasing passenger numbers and the terminal was renovated. In December 2015, the privatisation of Samos International Airport and 13 other regional airports of Greece was finalised with the signing of the agreement between the

Fraport AG Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,HRADF The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund S.A. (HRADF; el, Ταμείο Αξιοποίησης Ιδιωτικής Περιουσίας του Δημοσίου, ''Tameio Axiopoiisis Idiotikis Periousias tou Dimosiou'') or TAIPED ( el, ΤΑΙΠ ...

, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters. According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Samos International Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

Future investment

On 22 March 2017, Fraport Greece presented its master plan for the 14 regional airports including the International Airport of Samos. The following summarizes the enhancement changes that will be started in October 2017 and will be implemented for Samos International Airport under Fraport Greece's investment plan until 2021: * 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 * Expanding and remodeling the current terminal * New fire station * Reorganizing the airport apron area * 19 percent increase in the total size of the terminal at 9,605m² * 40 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 10 to 14) * 25 percent increase in the number of departure gates (from 4 to 5) * 50 percent increase in the number of security lanes (from 2 to 3)

Airlines and destinations

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

Traffic figures

The data are from Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) until 2016, and data from 2017 and later are from the official website of the airport.

Accidents and incidents

* On 3 August 1989,

Olympic Aviation Flight 545 On 3 August 1989, Olympic Aviation Flight 545, operated by a Shorts 330-200, crashed into a cloud-shrouded Mount Kerkis on Samos due to the pilots using visual flight rules in instrument flight rules conditions. All on board perished. This accid ...

crashed into

Mount Kerkis Kerkis or Kerketeus (Greek language, Greek, Modern: Κέρκης, ''Kérkis''; Ancient: Κερκετεύς, ''Kerketeús'') is a mountain, forming the bulk of the western part of the List of islands of Greece, Greek island of Samos Island, Samo ...

while on approach to Samos Airport. All 31 passengers and all three crew members died in the accident.ASN Aircraft Accident Shorts 330-200 SX-BGE
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References

{{authority control Airports in Greece