Fraport Greece: Which foreign tourists visited in 2023 – The comparison with 2019

Germans, Cypriots and Italians made the best footfall in 2023 at the airports managed by Fraport Greece, with over 10,000 traveler arrivals – in fact the Germans came to 36,487 – while the British, Austrians, Belgians, the Hungarians and the Dutch followed with over 3,000 passengers. The numbers of travelers from Israel, Turkey, Sweden and France were also significant.

The figures were published by Fraport Greece and according to these, the comparison of January 2023 with the corresponding month of the “golden” year for Greek tourism, 2019, brings this year’s January to be just 3.6% short, while relative to January 2022, traffic at the 14 regional airports managed by the company (Aktio, Chania, Corfu, Kavala, Kefalonia, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos, Kos, Mytilini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos) increased by 60.6 % (total for domestic and international flights).

Based on official data, the number of passengers at these airports in January this year stood at 596,129 compared to 618,000 in 2019.

Domestic traffic recorded a 6% drop compared to pre-pandemic numbers, while international traffic saw a marginal increase of 0.8% for the same period. It is noteworthy that 8 of the 14 airports registered a positive sign, with Skiathos recording an increase of 55.9%, Chania 12.8%, Kefalonia 4.4%, Zakynthos 34.7%, Kos 6.3 %, Mykonos 18.7%, Rhodes 5.6% and Samos 9.5%. On the other hand, Kavala airport registered the biggest percentage decrease, by 47% compared to 2019.

A decrease of 7% compared to 2019 was also noted by flights, with international flights showing a greater decrease of 12.6% and domestic flights at 4.8%.

Compared to 2022, both international and domestic traffic increased by 79% and 51.5% respectively, giving a strong boost to the new year, with the average increase standing at 60.6%.

Only Corfu airport saw a 12.5% decrease compared to the previous year, as traffic at all other airports showed a positive sign. The highest percentage increase was recorded by Santorini airport, by 82.6% compared to 2022 and Thessaloniki by 68.9%. There was a strong increase in flights to Chania airport, up 62.4%, as well as Skiathos by 61.1%.

“Eleftherios Venizelos” Athens International Airport

At the airport of Athens, “Eleftherios Venizelos”, passenger traffic in January reached 1.45 million, increased by 87.2% compared to the corresponding month of 2022, a month in which the negative impact of the pandemic  was still intense.

It also registered an increase of 3.9% compared to pre-Covid 19 levels. In particular, both domestic and international passenger traffic exceeded the levels of 2022 by 59.7% and 103.4% respectively, while they showed an increase compared to 2019 by 1.8% and 5%. The picture was similar in terms of flights for the first month of the year.

Specifically, the number of flights at Athens International Airport during January reached 13,832, recording an increase of 26.6% compared to 2022 and 1.3% compared to 2019 levels. Both domestic flights and international flights increased by 19.2% and 32.9% respectively compared to January 2022, while they also recorded an increase compared to 2019, by 2.6% and 0.4% respectively.