Rhodes International Airport

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδου "Διαγόρας"), or Diagoras International Airport (IATA: RHO, ICAO: LGRP), is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located just north of the village Paradeisi, about 14 km southwest of the capital city, Rodos. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, with 5,542,567 passengers utilizing the airport.[2]

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras"

Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδος "Διαγόρας"
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGreek state
OperatorFraport Greece
ServesRhodes
LocationParadeisi
Hub forOlympic Air
Focus city forAegean Airlines
Elevation AMSL6 m / 19 ft
Coordinates36°24′19.51″N 28°05′10.29″E / 36.4054194°N 28.0861917°E / 36.4054194; 28.0861917
Websiterho-airport.gr
Map
RHO is located in Greece
RHO
RHO
Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 3,305 10,844 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers6,142,813
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 4.9%
Aircraft movements43,077
Aircraft movements changeIncrease 2.5%
Runway[1] Statistics[2]

History edit

 
Check-in at Rhodes Airport

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

This was the island's main airport until 1977, when the new Rhodes International Airport was opened. The need for a new facility was big, as the 'old' Maritsa airport did not meet the needs for a modern civil airport. The new "Diagoras" airport was built in 1977. It was decided that, on this location, it would meet the needs of the island better.

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 60,000 m2[3]

On 21 September 2015, Rhodes Airport was closed for 14 hours after a 'sinkhole' appeared in the runway. Flights were diverted to surrounding airports such as Kos and Heraklion as well as Athens and the runway was fixed and reopened the following day.

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.[4] "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.[5] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Rhodes International Airport) for 40 years as of autumn 2016.

Facilities edit

Terminal edit

Rhodes Airport terminal is actually 2 separate buildings with a joined corridor in the middle. Departures are served both in ground (check-ins, baggage checks) and first floor (passenger screening, gates, shops) while arrivals are served only in ground floor's southern corner where passport control, customs and baggage reclaim operate. Airport does not have air bridges so boarding and disembarking require the use of buses.

Both terminals are and will be under renovations for the next couple of years from Fraport as a series of chronic problems need to be addressed. Toilets and air conditioning system were first to be fixed while more complicated works including new check in facilities that will eliminate double checks for baggage as well interior remodeling will proceed gradually during low traffic winter months.

Airport also hosts all necessary services such as a police station, a medical clinic, airline and handlers offices, rent-a-car and tour operators kiosks, VIP halls as well recently refurbished duty-free shops, cafes and restaurants.

Runway edit

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 edit

On 22 March 2017, the Fraport-Greece presented its master plan for the 14 regional airports including the International Airport of Rhodes.[6]

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 edit

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

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens, Thessaloniki[7]
Seasonal: Tel Aviv, Tirana (resumes 5 June 2024)[8]
Seasonal charter: Friedrichshafen,[9] Memmingen (begins 3 August 2024)[10]
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga, Tallinn,[11] Tampere
Air France Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[12]
Air Serbia Seasonal: Belgrade[13]
Animawings[14] Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni
Arkia Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
Bluebird Airways Seasonal: Tel Aviv
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[15] London–Heathrow[16]
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[17]
Chair Airlines Seasonal: Zürich
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg (begins 2 May 2024),[18] Stuttgart, Zürich[19]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hannover, Nuremberg
Corendon Airlines Europe Seasonal: Tel Aviv (begins 11 April 2024)[20]
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels,[21] Groningen[22]
Cyprus Airways Seasonal: Larnaca
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich
easyJet Seasonal: Amsterdam, Basel/Mulhouse,[23] Belfast–International,[24] Berlin, Birmingham (begins 23 April 2024),[25] Bordeaux, Bristol, Edinburgh,[26] Geneva (begins 25 June 2024),[27] London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester,[26] Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Orly, Toulouse,[28] Venice
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zürich
Enter Air Seasonal charter: Katowice,[29] Kraków[29]
European Air Charter Seasonal charter: Linz
Eurowings Seasonal: Berlin[30] Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund,[31] Düsseldorf, Graz,[30] Hamburg, Nuremberg (resumes 29 April 2024),[32] Prague,[30] Salzburg, Stuttgart[33]
Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[34]
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
Gulf Air Seasonal: Bahrain (begins 1 June 2024)[35]
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Bern,[36] Zürich
Israir Airlines Seasonal: Haifa,[37] Tel Aviv
ITA Airways Seasonal: Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino[38]
Jet2.com Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool (begins 2 May 2024),[39] London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
Leav Aviation Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn[40]
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin[41]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Marabu Seasonal: Hamburg, Munich
Neos Seasonal: Bergamo, Bologna, Catania, Milan–Malpensa, Rimini, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona[42]
Nordica Seasonal charter: Tallinn[43]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen,[44] Helsinki, Oslo, Stavanger (begins 26 June 2024),[45] Stockholm–Arlanda
Seasonal charter: Trondheim
Olympic Air Karpathos, Kasos, Kastellorizo, Sitia[46]
Seasonal: Heraklion
Pegasus Airlines Seasonal: Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[47]
Ryanair Seasonal: Bari (begins 4 May 2024),[48] Bergamo, Berlin, Birmingham,[49] Bologna, Budapest, Catania (begins 3 June 2024)[50] Charleroi, Cork (begins 1 June 2024),[51] Dublin,[49] East Midlands, Edinburgh,[52] Kaunas, Kraków,[53] London–Stansted, Manchester, Marseille,[54] Memmingen (resumes 1 April 2024),[55] Naples, Paphos, Pisa, Prague, Rome–Ciampino, Sofia,[56] Stockholm–Arlanda (begins 1 June 2024),[57] Thessaloniki (resumes 31 March 2024),[58] Vienna, Warsaw–Modlin, Weeze
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen[59]
Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[60] Luleå,[61] Stockholm–Arlanda,[60] Trondheim[62]
Sky Express Astypalaia, Athens, Chios, Heraklion, Kalymnos, Kos, Lemnos, Leros, Mytilene, Samos
Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle (begins 8 April 2024)[63]
Seasonal charter: Bratislava (begins 10 June 2024),[64] Cluj-Napoca,[65] Timișoara,[65] Weeze[66]
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Münster/Osnabrück[67]
Smartwings Seasonal: Bratislava,[68] Brno, Katowice, Košice, Ostrava, Prague, Warsaw–Chopin
Seasonal charter: Budapest, České Budějovice[69]
Sunclass Airlines Seasonal charter: Bergen,[70] Billund,[71] Copenhagen,[71] Borlänge,[72] Gothenburg,[72] Helsinki,[73] Karlstad,[72] Malmö,[72] Molde,[70] Norrköping,[72] Örebro,[72] Oslo,[70] Stavanger,[70] Stockholm–Arlanda,[72] Trondheim,[70] Växjö[72]
Sundair Seasonal: Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Lübeck (begins 1 May 2024)[74]
Sun d'Or Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Geneva
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Lyon,[75] Nantes,[76] Paris–Orly
TUI Airways[77] Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Dublin,[78] East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels, Liège, Ostend/Bruges
TUI fly Deutschland Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart
TUI fly Netherlands Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam
TUI fly Nordic Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[79] Norrköping, Stockholm–Arlanda[79]
Tus Airways Seasonal: Tel Aviv[80]
Volotea Seasonal: Bari (begins 4 July 2024),[81] Lille (begins 21 April 2024),[82] Lyon (begins 13 April 2024),[83] Nantes, Naples
Vueling Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[84]
Wizz Air[85] Seasonal: Budapest, Rome–Fiumicino,[86] Tel Aviv,[87] Warsaw–Chopin,[88]

Traffic figures edit

Annual passenger traffic at RHO airport. See Wikidata query.

Figures are taken from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) [89] until 2016 and since 2017 from the official website of the airport.[90]

Year Passengers
Domestic International Total
1994 380,072 2,111,714 2,491,786
1995  419,701  1,924,922  2,344,623
1996  477,396  1,764,121  2,241,517
1997  559,768  1,955,527  2,515,295
1998  535,284  2,137,028  2,672,312
1999  638,389  2,653,129  3,291,518
2000  720,560  2,686,490  3,407,050
2001  682,469  2,745,706  3,428,175
2002  628,837  2,601,646  3,230,483
2003  689,315  2,476,755  3,166,070
2004  697,873  2,338,650  3,036,523
2005  750,476  2,457,038  3,207,514
2006  809,965  2,681,557  3,491,522
2007  839,326  2,786,636  3,625,962
2008  843,529  2,723,940  3,567,469
2009  826,677  2,643,434  3,470,111
2010  736,566  2,850,006  3,586,572
2011  676,463  3,471,923  4,148,386
2012  600,167  3,213,780  3,813,947
2013  626,594  3,573,465  4,200,059
2014  691,040  3,861,016  4,552,056
2015  793,025  3,785,998  4,579,023
2016  848,878  4,093,508  4,942,386
2017  868,459  4,432,764  5,301,223
2018  829,475  4,738,273  5,567,748
2019  803,996  4,738,571  5,542,567
2020  352,985  1,198,138  1,551,123
2021  516,927  2,849,687  3,366,614
2022  708,866  5,148,170  5,857,036
2023  850,925  5,291,888  6,142,813
2024(Feb)  110.860  5.266  116.126

Traffic statistics by country (2022) edit

Traffic by country at Rhodes International Airport – 2022[91]
Place Country Total pax
1   United Kingdom 1,166,817
2   Germany 1,070,116
3   Greece 708,866
4   Poland 335,527
5   Israel 253,602
6   France 249,237
7   Sweden 238,791
8   Italy 213,021
9   Finland 204,979
10   Denmark 199,006
11   Netherlands 198,293
12   Czech Republic 165,017
13   Belgium 151,558
14   Norway 143,534
15   Austria 140,675

See also edit

References edit

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External links edit