14 Greek regional airports in private hands and a 250 million investment until 2018

The first group includes the airports of: Thessaloniki, Corfu, Chania, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Aktion-Lefkada and Kavala and the second group: Rhodes, Kos, Samos, Mytilene, Mykonos, Santorini and Skiathos

The competition for the concession by the HRADF to private hands 14 regional airports is in its final stage.

Under the contract the investors will commit to implement an investment of 250 million  in the first four years.

The first group includes the airports of: Thessaloniki, Corfu, Chania, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Aktion-Lefkada  and Kavala and the second group: Rhodes, Kos, Samos, Mytilene, Mykonos, Santorini and Skiathos.

In terms of investment, sources from HRADF stated that “the ever increasing traffic of the country’s airports in conjunction with forecasts for further rise of tourism require the implementation of investment in infrastructure and services of regional airports in order to be able to attract more customers and thus to receive more tourists contributing to the further strengthening of tourism for the benefit of the economy and local communities “.

Further, according to the HRADF the “concessionaire will constantly be checked for the level of service, satisfaction of passengers and the adequacy of the capacity of the facilities.” Also, “in the event of non-compliance, there will be significant penalties while in the case of repeated relapse the contacts will be terminated”.

Contracts will guarantee airport competitiveness and will  prohibit increases in charges before the completion of projects while engaging  investors to provide high quality services.

Finally, regarding airports with heavy military presence like Chania or Aktion-Lefkada,  only the purely political piece of the airport will be granted. For example the Terminal, Skating civil aircraft, car parking, while the common Shared infrastructure (runway) will remain under the full responsibility and control of the Air Force but  the concessionaire can use them for a price paid in the Air Force.