Kalamata International Airport

Kalamata International Airport (Greek: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καλαμάτας) (IATA: KLX, ICAO: LGKL) "Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos" is an airport in the city of Kalamata, Greece. It mainly receives flights during the summer. In March 2013, Aegean Airlines opened a base in the airport.^[3]

Kalamata International Airport "Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos" Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καλαμάτας «Καπετάν Βασίλης Κωνσταντακόπουλος»
IATA: KLX ICAO: LGKL
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Owner	Greek state
Operator	HCAA
Location	Kalamata, Peloponnese, Greece
Focus city for	Aegean Airlines
Elevation AMSL	26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates	37°04′06″N 22°01′32″E
Map
KLX
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 17R/35L 8,868 2,703 Asphalt 17L/35R 9,436 2,876 (now taxiway)
Statistics (2018)
Passengers 278,961 Passenger traffic change 0.9% Aircraft movements 2,601 Aircraft movements change 23.2%
Runway[1] Statistics[2]

Overview

Civilian airport

The airport is located between Kalamata and Messini on GR-82 (Pylos – Kalamata – Sparta) and west of the train tracks on the Pamisos River plain. The runway is about 2.7 km long and runs from north to south from the highway north to the plain. The terminal lies to the east and is accessed with GR-7/E55/E65 (Kalamata – Tripoli – Corinth).

Military air base

There is a military base of the Hellenic Air Force and since 1976, an air-training center, the Instrument Flight Training Center (gr.Κέντρο Εκπαίδευσης Ενόργανης Πτήσης) of the 120th Air Training Wing^[4] to the west of the runway.^[5][6] Since 2021, the military air base houses the International Flight Training Center after a collaboration of Elbit Systems and HAF. ^[7]The air base uses the same runway as civilian aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

History

Kalamata International Airport was opened in 1959. Charter flights began to operate out of the airport in 1986 and a new terminal was built in 1991. The same year Hellenic Civil Aviation took over as operator of the airport. In 2012 the airport was renamed after Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos.^{[citation needed]}

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Thessaloniki[8] Seasonal: Athens,[9] Copenhagen,[10][11] Gothenburg,[12] Helsinki,[13] Heraklion,[14] Munich, Stockholm–Arlanda, Tel Aviv[15]
Air France	Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[16]
arkia	Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv[17]
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna[18][19]
Bluebird Airways	Seasonal: Tel Aviv[20]
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Heathrow[21]
Condor	Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt,[22] Munich
Discover Airlines	Seasonal: Frankfurt (begins 29 June 2025),[23] Munich[24]
easyJet	Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[25] Manchester (resumes 24 June 2025)[26]
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zurich[27]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Düsseldorf[28]
FLYYO	Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv[29]
Jet2.com	Seasonal: Birmingham,[30] Bristol (begins 7 May 2025),[31] Edinburgh (begins 6 May 2026),[32] London–Stansted, Manchester[33]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Munich[34]
Marathon Airlines	Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[35]
Qanot Sharq	Seasonal: Tashkent[36]
Ryanair	Seasonal: Bergamo,[37] London–Stansted,[38] Vienna[39][40]
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal: Stockholm–Arlanda[41]
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Geneva[42][43]
Transavia	Seasonal: Amsterdam,[44] Paris–Orly[45][46]
Volotea	Seasonal: Lille,[47] Lyon,[48] Nantes[49]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at KLX airport. See Wikidata query.

Accidents and incidents

• On 16 October 1971, an NAMC YS-11 turboprop regional airliner of Olympic Airways was hijacked. It had departed from Kalamata International Airport to Hellinikon International Airport. There was one hijacker, who demanded to be taken to Lebanon. All 64 passengers and crew survived after the aircraft was stormed and the hijacker arrested. The hijacking lasted less than a day.^[50]
• In November 2001, fourteen plane spotters (twelve British and two Dutch) were arrested by the police after being observed photographing aircraft at the air base.^[51]

Ground Transport

Travelling to and from Kalamata Airport by bus is convenient, with good connections between the Airport and Kalamata. The bus pick up and drop off point is located close to the terminal building. Bus rides between the airport and Kalamata take 20 – 25 minutes.

The airport has been criticised for the lack of public transport.^{[52][better source needed]} The only way to reach the airport is by car, taxi or bus.^[53] The neighboring railway line to Messini and Kalamata was shut down in 2011.^[54][55]

See also

• Transport in Greece