Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδου "Διαγόρας"), or Diagoras International Airport , is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located just north of the village Paradeisi, about southwest of the capital city, Rhodes. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, with 5,542,567 passengers utilizing the airport.

History

Civil aviation on Rhodes started after the Second World War, on the location of the nearby military Rhodes Maritsa Airport.

Improvements have been made to the airport, like expansion of taxiways, platform and airport buildings. The most recent upgrade is a new passenger terminal, opened in 2005, to accommodate the growing number of charter flights and passengers. The airport's plants currently cover a total area of

In December 2015, the privatisation of Rhodes International Airport and 13 other regional airports of Greece was finalised with the signing of the agreement between the Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatisation fund. "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters. According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Rhodes International Airport) for 40 years as of autumn 2016.

Facilities

Runway The airport's single runway direction is 065/245 degrees (designated as 06/24), having a length of 3,305 meters and a width of 60 meters. There are two taxiways and four taxi links connecting the runway with the apron. The apron with the new pushback configuration can accommodate up to 20 ICAO reference category C or smaller airplanes, simultaneously. Three parking positions have MARS (Multiple Apron Ramp System) capability and can accommodate larger category D and E aircraft, such as the Airbus A330, A340 and A350 and the Boeing 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787. There is a small general aviation apron with three dedicated positions for small propelled or jet aircraft.

Future of the airport - Fraport Greece's investment plan

On 22 March 2017, the Fraport-Greece presented its master plan for the 14 regional airports including the International Airport of Rhodes."Fraport Greece’s Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports" , fraport-greece.com

The following summarizes the enhancement changes that started in November 2017 and will be implemented for Rhodes International Airport under Fraport Greece's investment plan: Immediate actions that were implemented at the airports as soon as Fraport Greece took over operations and before the launch of the 2017 Summer season included: General clean-up Improving lighting, marking of airside areas. Upgrading sanitary facilities Enhancing services and offering new free Internet connection (WiFi) Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airports Remodeling the current terminal Reorganizing the airport apron area New fire station 13 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 40 to 45) 13 percent increase in the number of departure gates (from 16 to 18) 71 percent in the number of security-check lanes (from 7 to 12) 25 percent increase in the number of baggage reclaim belts (from 4 to 5)

Airlines and destinations The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Rhodes Airport:

Statistics Figures are taken from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) until 2016 and since 2017 from the official website of the airport.

YearPassengersDomesticInternationalTotal1994380,0722,111,7142,491,7861995 419,701 1,924,922 2,344,6231996 477,396 1,764,121 2,241,5171997 559,768 1,955,527 2,515,2951998 535,284 2,137,028 2,672,3121999 638,389 2,653,129 3,291,5182000 720,560 2,686,490 3,407,0502001 682,469 2,745,706 3,428,1752002 628,837 2,601,646 3,230,4832003 689,315 2,476,755 3,166,0702004 697,873 2,338,650 3,036,5232005 750,476 2,457,038 3,207,5142006 809,965 2,681,557 3,491,5222007 839,326 2,786,636 3,625,9622008 843,529 2,723,940 3,567,4692009 826,677 2,643,434 3,470,1112010 736,566 2,850,006 3,586,5722011 676,463 3,471,923 4,148,3862012 600,167 3,213,780 3,813,9472013 626,594 3,573,465 4,200,0592014 691,040 3,861,016 4,552,0562015 793,025 3,785,998 4,579,0232016 848,878 4,093,508 4,942,3862017 868,459 4,432,764 5,301,2232018 829,475 4,738,273 5,567,7482019 803,996 4,738,571 5,542,5672020 352,985 1,198,138 1,551,1232021 516,927 2,849,687 3,366,6142022 708,866 5,148,170 5,857,0362023 850,925 5,291,888 6,142,8132024 906,241 6,015,507 6,921,7482025 953,718 6.139,546 7.093,264

Traffic statistics by country (2023) +Traffic by country at Rhodes International Airport (2023) Place Country Total passengers 1 United Kingdom 1,341,929 2 Germany 937,844 3 Greece 850,925 4 Poland 377,614 5 Israel 277,576 6 Sweden 261,116 7 Netherlands 210,610 8 Czech Republic 193,329 9 France 192,540 10 Finland 191,330 11 Italy 187,218 12 Denmark 183,207 13 Austria 168,192 14 Belgium 160,750 15 Norway 157,280

See also List of the busiest airports in Greece Transport in Greece

References

External links

Official website Greek Airport Guide: Rodos Airport, "Diagoras" Rhodes Island International Airport "Diagoras" at greekairports.gr Airport information for LGRP. Data current as of October 2011.