Skiathos Alexandros Papadiamantis Airport is an airport on the island of

Skiathos Skiathos (, ; , ; and ) is a small Greece, Greek Islands of Greece, island in the northwest Aegean Sea. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades archipelago, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Its runway is able to accommodate aircraft up to the size of a

Boeing 757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maiden ...

. The runway is characterised as 'short and narrow'. Because of the uneven terrain on the island of Skiathos, Skiathos Airport was created by reclaiming land from the sea between Skiathos island and the smaller island of Lazareta (a former

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East ...

) effectively joining the two islands into one larger island, though it was built on land already part of Skiathos. The location was chosen by a mechanic who lived in Volos. The airport is named after

Alexandros Papadiamantis Alexandros Papadiamantis ( ; 4 March 1851 – 3 January 1911) was an influential Greek novelist, short-story writer and poet. Biography Papadiamantis was born in Greece, on the island of Skiathos, in the western part of the Aegean Sea. The isl ...

, a Greek novelist and native of the island. The airport's short runway and its proximity to an adjacent public road have made it a popular destination for planespotters. It is often compared to

Princess Juliana International Airport Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the country of Sint Maarten, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon. In 2015, the ...

on Saint Maarten since both airports offer the public an ability to legally experience landing approaches and takeoffs at very close range.

History

The airport first operated in 1972. A passenger terminal and a new control tower was constructed in 1988. In 2001 the terminal was closed down by a minor earthquake, and a new passenger terminal opened in 2002, to better accommodate the growing number of passengers. From 2019, as part of the Fraport construction works the airport has 2 current terminals. Terminal 1 was reconstructed and is currently the Domestic Terminal, and Terminal 2 is for international arrivals. Skiathos Airport has no jetways, meaning, prior to the 2016 work, passengers walked the short distance from the aircraft to the terminal building. Now, buses drive passengers the short distance. In 2014 the runway was extended by 110 metres on the north side of the airport. In 2016 an extension was added to the ramp for 6 airliner parking stands, along with an additional taxiway. The previous two parking stands are now used for smaller aircraft. The island has only two roundabouts, one at the airport and one just outside of the Skiathos Town, operational in 2023. Its only set of traffic lights is at the southern end of the runway in an attempt to prevent jet blast accidents. In December 2015, the privatization of Skiathos Island National 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, commonly known as Fraport, is a German transport company which operates Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt am Main and holds interests in the operation of several other airports around the world. In th ...

/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatization fund. "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatization agency

HRADF The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF; , ΤΑΙΠΕΔ) is a Greek state-owned asset management company that controls a number of state owned enterprises. It is a direct subsidiary of the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participat ...

, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters. According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Skiathos Island National Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Skiathos Airport:

Traffic figures

The data taken from the official website of the airport.

Traffic statistics by country (2024)

https://www.jsi-airport.gr/uploads/sys_nodelng/2/2896/Skiathos_Traffic_Report_by_Country_December_2024.pdf

Ground transport

Skiathos Airport is located 4.5 km from the city of Skiathos and is accessible either from Skiathos ringroad or the coast road. The journey to and from the city centre takes about 10–15 minutes, depending on traffic. 24/7 metered taxi service is available outside the Skiathos Airport Terminal building.

References