| Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia" | |
| Nativename-A: | Greek, Modern (1453-);: Αεροδρόμιο Θεσσαλονίκης «Μακεδονία»[1] [2] |
| Iata: | SKG |
| Icao: | LGTS |
| Type: | Public / Military |
| Owner: | Government of Greece[3] |
| Operator: | Fraport Greece |
| City-Served: | Thessaloniki |
| Location: | Thermi, Greece |
| Opened: | 1948 (for public) |
| Operating Base: | Ryanair |
| Timezone: | Eastern European Time |
| Summer: | Eastern European Summer Time |
| Elevation-F: | 22 |
| Elevation-M: | 6.83 |
| Metric-Elev: | yes |
| Image Map Caption: | Map of the airport |
| Pushpin Map: | Greece |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the airport in Greece |
| Pushpin Label: | SKG |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| R1-Number: | 10/28 |
| R1-Length-M: | 3,440 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R2-Number: | 16/34 |
| R2-Length-M: | 2,424 |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Metric-Rwy: | yes |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 7,029,957 |
| Stat2-Header: | Passenger traffic change |
| Stat2-Data: | 18.7% |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat3-Data: | 54,658 |
| Stat4-Header: | Aircraft movements change |
| Stat4-Data: | 11.5% |
| Stat-Year: | 2023 |
| Footnotes: | Sources: Greek AIP[4] [5] [6] Statistics: Fraport Greece[7] |
Thessaloniki Airport, officially Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia"[8] (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Θεσσαλονίκης «Μακεδονία»|Kratikós Aeroliménas Thessaloníkis "Makedonía")[9] and formerly Mikra Airport, is an international airport serving Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. It is located 13abbr=onNaNabbr=on southeast of the city, in Thermi.
The airport is the third-largest airport in the country after Athens International Airport and Heraklion International Airport. It opened in 1930 and was the second-busiest airport in Greece in terms of flights served and the third-busiest in terms of passengers served in 2016, with over 6 million passengers. It is the main airport of Northern Greece and apart from the city of Thessaloniki it also serves the popular tourist destination of Chalkidiki and the surrounding cities of Macedonia. The AthensThessaloniki route is the tenth busiest in the EU with 1.8 million passengers.[10] To cope with demand, a second terminal was constructed in conjunction with Fraport and formally opened in 2021.[11]
The airport was first established as an airfield during the First World War, as part of the allied war effort on the Macedonian front.[12] There were numerous airfields at the time, including, (which became the current international airport), and the major military airfield of Sedes. The first international flight to Thessaloniki landed at the air field, and government efforts at encouraging the growth of civil aviation saw the start of construction of a purpose-built civilian airport at the present location in 1938. Works were temporarily abandoned due to the Second World War and the airport opened to civilian traffic in 1948.
Major works were undertaken after the war. The accession of Greece to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation saw NATO-funded investments such as the expansion of the 10/28 runway to 2440m (8,010feet) and the inauguration of a new terminal building in 1965. Damage to the tower caused by the 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake meant it needed to be torn down, and a new tower, still in operation, was built. Modernisation works were undertaken in the late 1990s, as part of the celebrations for Thessaloniki being European Capital of Culture in 1997. In 1993 the airport took the name (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Μακεδονία, Macedonia).
The operational aspects of the airport were privatised in 2015. Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatisation fund agreed to the privatisation of the airport operations, and 13 other Greek airports, in December 2015.[13] Fraport Greece will operate the airport for 40 years starting on 11 April 2017.[14] It pledged to invest €400 million ($ million) on the various airports, including a refurbishment of the existing facilities at Thessaloniki as well as the construction of a second terminal.[15] Construction on the new terminal began on 19 September 2018[16] and finished in February 2021, three months ahead of schedule.[17] Refurbishment works other than the terminal included the installation of an upgraded baggage handling system, the construction of three additional baggage reclaim belts, the connection of the wastewater treatment plant to the municipal service, the construction of a new airport fire station, and the construction of two new access control gatehouses to the previously unguarded apron.[18] Fraport expects passenger traffic to increase by 48% by 2026 as a result of its investment.
The airport consists of two terminals arranged in a T-shape, with the main access road on one side and the tarmac on the other, while the control tower is located in the junction between the two terminals. Four parking lots are located directly in front of the Terminal 1 building: the P4 lot is reserved for short term (visitor) parking and lots P6, P7 and P8 are used for long term (traveler) parking. P5, located on the left of the T1 building, serves taxi cabs and tourist buses.[19]
The airport's original terminal (T1) consists of three floors. The ground floor serves arrivals only and is divided into two sections: international/extra-Schengen arrivals and domestic/intra-Schengen arrivals. The second floor serves departures and also includes a shopping center. On this floor there are 16 check-in counters, waiting areas, bars, stores and various airlines' offices. The third floor houses two restaurants and several bars with views to the runways, as well as two passenger lounges. T1 houses twelve departure gates (numbered 13-24) : gates 13 and 14 are for domestic or intra-Schengen flights, gates 15-18 are used interchangeably for either domestic, intra-Schengen or extra-Schengen flights, and gates 19-24 are reserved exclusively for extra-Schengen international flights.
An additional terminal (T2) was opened in the beginning of 2021.[20] It includes an additional 28 check in counters (bringing the airport total to 44), and twelve departure gates (numbered 01-12) for international (intra-Schengen) and domestic flights. This terminal also includes several additional duty-free shops, traditional souvenir and jewelry shops, and auxiliary airline offices.
In both terminals, passengers can use the "Fraport-free" free Wi-Fi [21] and public mobile phone charging ports,[22] as well as luggage carrying trolleys, and receive information from two National Tourism Organization offices. There are also ATM machines, postal service [23] and car rental offices [24] in the departure sections of both terminals.
The airport has two runways (10/28 and 16/34) and two taxiways. There are 22 stands for narrow-body aircraft and 20 for light aircraft.
A modernisation and expansion project for runway 10/28 began in 2005, with an initial completion date of 2011, but has since been delayed and was finally completed in March 2019.[25] The runway entered service on 11 September 2020.[26] Overall, the project took almost a quarter century to build, from inception in 1997, and it had an estimated cost of €179 million ($ million).[27] The runway was extended by 1000 meters into the sea, with a total length of 3440 meters and was equipped with ILS. When the runway opened for commercial use it was able to accommodate 89.6% of current commercial aircraft types, as opposed to just 22.6% before the extension, and improved safety while landing in bad weather conditions and low visibility.
The airport is served by Thessaloniki Fire Station No 5, whose facility is located in the junction between runways 10/28 and 16/34.[28]
The Thessaloniki AeroClub recreational flying club maintains a hangar next to the T2 building which is used by its more experienced pilots (the club's actual hangar facilities are on the Kolchiko airport). The Aeolus pilot academy also operates on the airport.
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Thessaloniki Airport: