Kavala International Airport "Alexander the Great" (

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 Καβάλας «Μέγας Αλέξανδρος», ''Kratikós Aeroliménas Kaválas "Mégas Aléxandros"'') is an airport located in 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 Nestos, in

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 ...

History

Alexander The Great Airport Internal View

The airport was originally located closer to

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia and the capital of Kavala (regional unit), Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across ...

, 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, it was moved near the town of

Chrysoupoli Chrysoupoli ( el, Χρυσούπολη, before 1925: Σαπαίοι - ''Sapaioi'' or Σαρή Σαμπάν - ''Sari Saban'') is a town and a former municipality in the Kavala regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local ...

, where it operates today. The relocation greatly improved the service to the nearby island of

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...

and the city of

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope m ...

, in addition to the continued service to the cities of

and

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

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 Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη, translit=Anatolikí Makedonía ke Thráki, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the cou ...

. 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 Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters. 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. Immediate actions that will be implemented at the airports as soon as Fraport Greece takes over operations, before the launch of the 2017 summer season include: * 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:

Statistics

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

Traffic statistics by country (2022)

https://www.kva-airport.gr/uploads/sys_nodelng/2/2881/Traffic%20by%20Country_2022_KVA.pdf

References

External links

* Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority: Our Airports
Kavala Airport, "Megas Alexandros"
* Greek Airport Guide

{{authority control Airports in Greece Buildings and structures in Kavala