Alexandroupoli Airport "
Dimokritos" or "Democritus"
(
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Αλεξανδρούπολης "Δημόκριτος",
''Kratikós Aeroliménas Alexandrúpolis "Dimókritos"'') is an airport 7 km east of
Alexandroupolis
Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It ...
in northeastern
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
on main national road
E90. It is located near the village of Apalos, which belongs to the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of Alexandroupoli. The airport was built in 1944. In 1955 it became an international airport whereas the current buildings and runway were constructed in 1975.
The airport was named after
Democritus
Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...
, the ancient philosopher born in
Abdera.
Airlines and destinations
Statistics
2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt
On Saturday 16 July 2016, at 11:42 am (UTC+2), a Turkish
Black Hawk helicopter sent a distress signal and requested permission for an emergency landing to Greek authorities and landed 8 minutes later (11:50) at the airport after an
unsuccessful coup in Turkey. Two Greek
F-16s observed the procedure and escorted the helicopter to the airport. Eight Turkish military officers, who were on the helicopter, were arrested after landing. They were transferred to the local police station, while the helicopter was guarded at the airport by the Greek authorities. They were charged with illegal entry into the country. Seven were also charged of instigating illegal flight, while the eighth, who was piloting the helicopter, was accused of executing the illegal flight. The
eight officers all requested political asylum in Greece. At night (after 11:00 p.m. (
EEST
Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...
) a second Turkish Black Hawk helicopter with extra crew members arrived at the Greek airport from Turkey in order to retrieve the first helicopter, after the crew checked the helicopter, both helicopters returned to Turkey early on the morning of 17 July.
See also
*
Transport in Greece
Transport in Greece has undergone significant changes in the past two decades, vastly modernizing the country's infrastructure and transportation. Although ferry transport between islands remains the prominent method of transport between the nat ...
References
External links
Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority
Airports in Greece
Transport infrastructure in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Buildings and structures in Evros (regional unit)
{{EMacedoniaThrace-geo-stub