Kos International Airport

"Kos Airport" redirects here. For the airport in Cambodia with IATA code KOS, see Sihanouk International Airport.

Kos International Airport "Ippokratis" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Κω "Ιπποκρατης"; named for Hippocrates) (IATA: KGS, ICAO: LGKO) is an international airport on the island of Kos in Greece. It is located near Antimachia Village, and is operated by Fraport AG.

Kos International Airport "Ippokratis" Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Κω "Ιπποκρατης"
IATA: KGS ICAO: LGKO WMO: 16742[1]
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Greek state
Operator	Fraport Greece
Serves	Kos Island
Location	Antimachia, Greece
Focus city for	Aegean Airlines
Elevation AMSL	409 ft / 126 m
Coordinates	36°47′36.01″N 27°05′30″E
Website	kgs-airport.gr
Map
KGS Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 14/32 7,874 2,400 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 2,791,590[2] Passenger traffic change 77.3% Aircraft movements 21.475 Aircraft movements change 51.2
Statistics[3]

The airport mainly serves charter airlines, who bring customers on holiday to the island. Kos Airport hits its peak in summer, with flights from German and British airlines primarily.

History

The airport was opened on 4 April 1964. In 1974, the runway was extended to 2,400 metres. Due to increased traffic at the airport, a new terminal was built in 1980. In 1997, the terminal building was renovated and expanded.^{[citation needed]}

In December 2015, the privatisation of Kos Island 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 Kos Island International Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

On 22 March 2017, Fraport AG and its Greek subsidiary Fraport Greece presented its plans for 14 regional airports that they had been handed control of by the Greek Government.^[6] The immediate actions by Fraport were to improve lighting, improve the marking of airside areas, upgrade sanitary facilities, enhance WiFi services and implementing better fire safety throughout the airport.

The long-term plans by the operator, which initially were to continue until 2021, included the building of a new terminal and a new fire station, and the refurbishment of the waste water treatment plant The new terminal provides significantly more check-in desks and security check lanes.

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines[7]	Athens, Thessaloniki[8] Seasonal: Heraklion (begins 2 June 2025)[9]
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin[10]
airBaltic	Seasonal: Riga[11]
Air Serbia	Seasonal charter: Belgrade
Arkia	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna
Bluebird Airways	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Braathens International Airways	Seasonal charter: Gothenburg[12]
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[13][14] London–Heathrow[15]
Brussels Airlines	Seasonal: Brussels[16][17]
Buzz[18]	Seasonal charter: Katowice
Chair Airlines	Seasonal: Zürich
Condor	Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Stuttgart, Zürich[19]
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf,[20] Hannover,[21] Nuremberg
Corendon Dutch Airlines	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels,[22] Maastricht/Aachen
Discover Airlines	Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich
easyJet	Seasonal: Berlin, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, Lyon,[23] Manchester,[24] Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Venice
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zürich
Enter Air[25]	Seasonal charter: Gdańsk,[18] Katowice, Warsaw–Chopin
European Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Linz
Eurowings	Seasonal: Berlin,[26] Cologne/Bonn, Graz,[27] Hamburg, Nuremberg[28] Salzburg, Stuttgart Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[29]
Helvetic Airways	Seasonal: Bern, Zürich
Jet2.com	Seasonal: Birmingham, Bournemouth (begins 29 July 2026),[30] Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
Leav Aviation	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn[31]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt[32]
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg
Marabu	Seasonal: Hamburg, Munich
Neos	Seasonal: Bergamo,[33] Bologna, Milan–Malpensa, Verona[34]
Ryanair[35]	Seasonal: Bari, Bergamo, Berlin, Bologna, Dublin,[36] London–Stansted,[37] Milan–Malpensa,[38] Pisa, Rome–Fiumicino, Treviso, Vienna, Weeze,[39][40] Zagreb[41]
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal charter: Copenhagen, Oslo, Stavanger,[42] Stockholm-Arlanda
Sky Express	Astypalaia, Athens, Heraklion, Kalymnos, Leros, Rhodes Seasonal: Amsterdam Seasonal charter: Weeze[43]
SmartLynx Airlines	Seasonal charter: Münster/Osnabrück[44]
Smartwings[45]	Seasonal: Bratislava, Brno, Ostrava, Prague, Warsaw–Chopin
Sunclass Airlines	Seasonal charter: Oslo[46]
Sundair	Seasonal: Berlin, Bremen,[47] Dresden, Lübeck[48]
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Geneva
Trade Air	Seasonal charter: Ljubljana
Transavia	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Paris–Orly, Rotterdam/The Hague[49]
TUI Airways	Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Dublin,[50] East Midlands, London–Gatwick, London–Luton,[51] Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels
TUI fly Deutschland	Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Stuttgart
TUI fly Netherlands	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen,[52] Rotterdam
Wizz Air	Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[53]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at KGS airport. See Wikidata query.

The data are from Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)^[54] until 2016 and from 2017 onwards from the official website of the airport.^[55]

Year Passengers Domestic International Total 1994 125,215 1,130,052 1,255,267 1995 141,283 1,015,148 1,156,431 1996 150,271 892,154 1,042,425 1997 153,151 1,006,424 1,159,575 1998 145,312 1,044,604 1,189,916 1999 169,650 1,274,656 1,444,306 2000 217,876 1,360,280 1,578,156 2001 200,614 1,440,986 1,641,600 2002 177,003 1,321,099 1,498,102 2003 183,821 1,278,862 1,462,683 2004 247,758 1,256,941 1,504,699 2005 255,077 1,207,698 1,462,775 2006 251,610 1,321,507 1,573,117 2007 272,271 1,369,410 1,641,681 2008 264,276 1,351,177 1,615,453 2009 260,347 1,257,599 1,517,946 2010 231,057 1,396,183 1,627,240 2011 220,921 1,705,302 1,926,223 2012 192,043 1,605,458 1,797,501 2013 175,422 1,853,196 2,028,618 2014 189,750 2,024,714 2,214,464 2015 201,000 1,942,860 2,143,860 2016 205,695 1,695,800 1,901,495 2017 234,023 2,086,567 2,320,590 2018 271,725 2,394,582 2,666,307 2019 284,948 2.391,696 2.676,644 2020 134.392 666.263 800.655 2021 174,028 1,400,490 1,574,518 2022 263,900 2,527,690 2,791,590 2023 305,775 2,648,944 2,954,719 2024(Sep) 248.257 2.414.774 2.663.031

Traffic statistics by country (2022)

Traffic by country at Kos International Airport – 2022^[56]

Rank	Country	Total passengers
1	Germany	813,947
2	United Kingdom	618,518
3	Greece	263,900
4	Netherlands	223,286
5	Poland	176,796
6	Italy	108,653
7	Belgium	103,199
8	Austria	77,881
9	Czech Republic	75,759
10	Switzerland	74,696
11	France	70,337
12	Denmark	40,253
13	Sweden	36,182
14	Israel	34,634
15	Finland	24,271

Ground transport

By public bus:^[57] A transit bus service operates between the airport and Kos town, Mastichari, Kardamena and Kefalos.

By tour operator transfer: Tour operators such as Jet2holidays and TUI UK provide free bus transfers from customers' accommodation to the airport.

By taxi:^[58] 24/7 metered taxi service is available outside the Kos Airport Terminal building.

By car:^[59] Kos Airport is located 24 km from the Kos town and is accessible from the provincial road Kos-Kefalos.

Accidents and incidents

• In 2013, an Air Explore Boeing 737 made an emergency landing due to the left engine overheating. Once it taxied to the gate, the engine caught fire. The pilot ordered an evacuation using the emergency slides on either side of the aircraft. No one was injured during the incident.

See also

• Transport in Greece

References

1. "METAR/Synop Information for LGKO (16742) in Kos Airport , Greece". Gladstonefamily.net. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
2. "FRAPORT GREECE - FULL YEAR 2022 vs 2021" (PDF).
3. "KOS AIRPORT "IPPOKRATIS"". kgs-airport.gr. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
4. "Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport - TornosNews.gr". Retrieved 4 May 2017.
5. "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport". Reuters. 14 December 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
6. "Fraport Greece's Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports", fraport-greece.com
7. "Flight Schedule". Aegean Airlines.
8. "Aegean Airlines / Olympic Air NW23 Domestic Operation Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
9. https://gianniotika.gr/2024/10/26/nea-apeftheias-dromologia-aegean-apo-irakleio-pros-kerkyra-naxo-kai-ko/
10. "AERLINGUS NS23 EUROPEAN NETWORK CHANGES – 12DEC22". Aeroroutes. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
11. "AirBaltic adds new flights – total of 96 routes in 2021".
12. "BRA NS24 Charter Program with Apollo / Spies / VING".
13. "British Airways Announces Routes and Starts Selling Seats for ITS New Gatwick Short-Haul Subsidiary".
14. "BA EuroFlyer April 2023 Network". Aeroroutes.com. Aeroroutes. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
15. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240415-ukns24
16. "Brussels Airlines prepares for summer with the reopening of attractive holiday destinations". press.brusselsairlines.com. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
17. "Brussels Airlines NS23 European Network Adjustment – 18DEC22". Aeroroutes.
18. "Timetable". grecos.pl.
19. "In summer 2021 Condor will fly from Zurich to the most popular vacation destinations". condor-newsroom.condor.com. 29 October 2020.
20. "Corendon Airlines NS23 Germany Network Additions – 28DEC22".
21. Liu, Jim. "Corendon Airlines S20 Network expansion". Routesonline. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
22. "Corendon significantly expands its offer on the Belgian market: 22 destinations from Brussels, 9 from Maastricht". 14 March 2022.
23. "EasyJet".^{[full citation needed]}
24. "easyJet Adds Manchester-based A321neo Service in NW24". Aeroroutes.
25. "Coral Travel". coraltravel.pl.
26. "Eurowings flies to more destinations in summer 2022 than ever before". 20 December 2021.
27. "Ab Sommerflugplan: Neue Direktflüge: Eurowings verbindet Graz mit Hamburg und Berlin | Kleine Zeitung". www.kleinezeitung.at. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
28. "Mallorca, Nizza und viele mehr: Neue Reiseziele vom Airport Nürnberg".
29. "Sommerflugplan 2022" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
30. https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/jet2-and-jet2holidays-tease-further-growth-as-expanded-summer-2026-programme-released
31. "Cologne/Bonn: Leav Aviation starts scheduled flights". 12 May 2023.
32. "Lufthansa is consistently pursuing its tourism strategy: 15 new summer destinations from Frankfurt in 2021". Lufthansa Group.
33. "Low Cost Flights to Greece".
34. "Flight Times". neosair.it/en.
35. "Ryanair NS23 Network Additions Summary – 26MAR23". Aeroroutes.
36. "New destinations: Ryanair to fly to Kos and Brindisi from Dublin next year". The Irish Times.
37. "Timetable".
38. "RYANAIR aggiunge nuovi voli da MXP per [...] Kos". Malpensanews. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
39. "Ryanair".^{[full citation needed]}
40. "Ryanair NS24 Network Additions Summary – 14JUL24".
41. "Ryanair to launch new Zagreb service". 3 February 2023.
42. "Only Flight". tui.no.
43. "Sunweb: nu ook vakantievluchten vanaf Weeze en uitbreiding op Brussels Airport". luchtvaartnieuws.nl. 14 December 2022.
44. "Smartlynx NS23 Muenster Network Additions".
45. "Flight schedule". smartwings.com.
46. "Sunclass Airlines NS23 Network Additions".
47. "Sundair.com". www.sundair.com. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
48. "Sundair 2Q24 Lubeck – Greece Network Additions".
49. "Transavia Adds New Eindhoven Routes in S16". Routesonline. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
50. "TUI Airways NS23 Ireland Operations – 21MAR23".
51. "Flight Timetable | TUI Airways".
52. "Kos en Gazipasa nieuw in zomerdienstregeling Groningen Airport Eelde". 1 December 2023.
53. "Wizz Air launches 9 new routes across Europe!". Flight deals from Europe, USA, Asia and Australia | Fly4free. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
54. "KOS AIRPORT IPPOKRATIS", ypa.gr
55. "Air Traffic statistics", kgs-airport.gr
56. "Traffic Report by Country" (PDF). Kos Airport "Ippokratis". 2022.
57. "By Public Bus | Kos Airport (KGS)". www.kgs-airport.gr. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
58. "By Taxi | Kos Airport (KGS)". www.kgs-airport.gr. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
59. "By Car | Kos Airport (KGS)". www.kgs-airport.gr. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

External links

Media related to Kos Island International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website