Kavala International Airport

This article is about the Kavala Airport. For other uses, see Alexander the Great Airport (disambiguation).

Kavala International Airport "Alexander the Great" (Greek: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας «Μέγας Αλέξανδρος»,^[2] Kratikós Aeroliménas Kaválas "Mégas Aléxandros") (IATA: KVA, ICAO: LGKV) is an airport located in the municipality of Nestos, in Greece.

Kavala International Airport "Alexander The Great" Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας, "Μέγας Αλέξανδρος"
IATA: KVA ICAO: LGKV
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture
Serves	Kavala
Location	Chrysoupoli
Elevation AMSL	18 ft / 5 m
Coordinates	40°54′48″N 024°37′09″E
Website	kva-airport.gr
Map
KVA Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 3,000 9,844 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 251,615 Passenger traffic change 68.7% Aircraft movements 2,587 Aircraft movements change 33.3%
Sources: Fraport-Greece [1]

History

The terminal

Airport's interior

Kavala's first airport was located closer to Kavala, in the installations of the Greek Air Force, near the village of Amygdaleonas, where it began its operations in 1952 as Kavala National Airport. On 12 October 1981, a new airport opened near the town of Chrysoupoli, where it still operates. The relocation greatly improved the service to the nearby island of Thasos and the city of Xanthi, in addition to the continued service to the cities of Kavala and Drama.^{[citation needed]}

A bust of Alexander the Great in Kavala airport

The airport was initially used only for domestic flights, as the original name implies. In December 1987, by a joint decision of the Minister of Presidency and the Minister for Transport and Communications it was renamed to Kavala International Airport to be again renamed in January 1992 to Kavala International Airport "Megas Alexandros", by a decision of the Minister for Transport and Communications.

At the beginning of its operation at its new location, the building infrastructure of the airport included only a terminal building. The control tower, the fire station and the other installations were built later. A small extension to the terminal building was added in 1992. The runway had been built, with the same dimensions that it has today. In 1998, extensive works began for new building infrastructure and today the airport of Kavala is functioning as a single upgraded total (old and new installations together), including all modern facilities for service both to airlines and passengers, contributing to the growth of East Macedonia and Thrace.

In December 2015, the privatisation of Kavala 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.^[3] "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.^[4] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Kavala International Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

Fraport Greece's investment plan

On 22 March 2017, Fraport Greece presented its master plan for the 14 Greek regional airports, including the International Airport of Kavala.^[5]

Immediate actions, to be implemented as soon as Fraport Greece takes over operations, 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 a new free Internet connection (WiFi)
• Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airports

The following summarizes the enhancement changes that will start in October 2017 and will be implemented for Kavala International Airport, under Fraport Greece's investment plan, by 2021:

• Terminal expansion by 2,029 m²
• Remodeling the current terminal
• HBS inline screening
• Refurbishing and expanding the fire station
• Expanding the waste water treatment plant or connection to municipal service
• Reorganizing the airport apron area
• Refurbishing the airside pavement
• 20 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 8 to 10)

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens[6]
Air Serbia	Seasonal charter: Belgrade[7]
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna[8]
Braathens International Airways	Seasonal charter: Copenhagen[9][10]
Buzz	Seasonal charter: Katowice, Poznan, Wroclaw (begins 26 May 2025)
Condor[11]	Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich, Nuremberg (begins 01 August 2025)
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn,[12] Dortmund,[13] Düsseldorf,[13] Stuttgart
Heston Airlines	Seasonal Charter: Vilnius
LOT Polish Airlines	Seasonal Charter: Katowice, Warsaw-Chopin
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal charter: Stockholm–Arlanda[14]
Smartwings	Seasonal charter: Bratislava,[15][better source needed] Brno, Ostrava,[16] Prague[17]
TUI Airways[18]	Seasonal: Birmingham, London–Gatwick, Manchester

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at KVA airport. See Wikidata query.

The data taken from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) until 2016 and from 2017 onwards from the Fraport Greece website.

Year Passengers Domestic International Total 2010 143,333 152,861 296,194 2011 93,271 159,036 252,307 2012 68,232 135,013 203,245 2013 64,545 144,855 209,400 2014 73,340 149,625 222,965 2015 78,745 165,000 243,745 2016 77,540 192,435 269,975 2017 75,284 262,679 337,963 2018 75,026 331,923 406,949 2019 68,328 254,982 323,310 2020 25.767 46.907 72.674 2021 32,708 116,438 149,146 2022 44,361 207,254 251,615 2023 57,267 247,147 304,414 2024(Nov) 57.742 230.571 288.313

Traffic statistics by country (2023)

Traffic by country at Kavala International Airport – 2023

Place	Country	Total pax
1	Germany	128.129
2	Greece	57.267
3	Poland	26.100
4	United Kingdom	25.074
5	Czech Republic	20.681
6	Sweden	6.926
7	Lithuania	6.197
8	Austria	6.134
9	Norway	5.508
10	Slovakia	5.115

^[19]

See also

• Transport in Greece
• Meridian Flight 3032, an Antonov An-12 that crashed while attempting an emergency landing at the airport, killing all 8 crew members

References

1. "KAVALA AIRPORT "M.ALEXANDROS"" (PDF).
2. "Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καβάλας 'Μ. Αλέξανδρος' (ΚΑΚΒΑ)". Hellenic Civilian Aviation Authority. hcaa.gr. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
3. "Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport | TornosNews.gr".
4. "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport".
5. "Fraport Greece’s Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports", fraport-greece.com
6. "Aegean Airlines / Olympic Air NW23 Domestic Operation Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
7. "The carrier's General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, also noted the carrier will expand its charter operations next year with the addition of new routes including Kavala in northern Greece".
8. "Austrian Airlines Adds Service to Kavala, Greece, for Summer 2022". 27 January 2022.
9. "Spies: Flybilletter – Find billige flybilletter her". 12 February 2024.
10. "BRA NS24 Charter Program with Apollo / Spies / VING".
11. "Flugplan Sommer 2024" (PDF). Condor.
12. Liu, Jim (13 March 2024). "Eurowings NS24 Leased Smartwings 737-800 Operating Routes". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
13. Liu, Jim (14 March 2024). "Aegean Airlines Begins Eurowings Codeshare From late-March 2024". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
14. "Ving:Boka din nästa flygresa". 12 February 2024.
15. "Dovolenky na Thassose letecky z Bratislavy".
16. "Dovolená Thassos, Řecko Letecky Ostrava".
17. "Destinations and Airlines". 2 November 2024.
18. "Flight Timetable". tui.co.uk.
19. "Traffic Report by Country" (PDF). Kavala Airport "Megas Alexandros".

External links

• Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority: Our Airports: Kavala Airport, "Megas Alexandros"
• Greek Airport Guide: Kavala Airport, "Megas Alexandros"