Thessaloniki Airport

The airport's terminal consists of three floors. The ground floor serves arrivals only and is divided into two sections: international/extra-Schengen arrivals and domestic/intra-Schengen arrivals. The second floor serves departures and also includes a shopping center. On this floor there are 34 check-in counters, waiting areas, bars, stores and various airlines' offices. The third floor houses two restaurants and several bars with views to the runways. There are two passenger lounges. An additional terminal is to be opened in 2021.[13]

Aerial view of the airport in 2011, showing the progress of construction of the runway expansion

The airport has two runways (10/28 and 16/34) and two taxiways. There are 22 stands for narrow-body aircraft and about 20 for light aircraft.

A modernisation and expansion project for runway 10/28 began in 2005, with an initial completion date of 2011, but has since been delayed[13] and was finally completed in March 2019.[14] Modernisation projects on the tarmac and other runway are expected to be completed in 2019.[13] The runway is expected to enter service in the Fall of 2019.[14] Overall, the project took almost a quarter century to build, from inception in 1997, and it has an estimated cost of €179 million ($211 million).[15] The runway will be extended by 1000 meters into the sea, with a total length of 3440 meters and will be equipped with ILS.[14] When the runway opens for commercial use it will be able to accommodate 89.6% of current commercial aircraft types, as opposed to just 22.6% before the extension,[15] and will improve safety while landing in bad weather conditions and low visibility.[14]

Between 1994 and 2010, Thessaloniki Airport saw a rise in passenger traffic equal to 76%, from 2.2 million in 1994 to 3.9 million in 2010.[4] Between 2003 and 2008 the airport saw a passenger traffic increase of 19.1% from 3.5 million to almost 4.2 million passengers, an all-time high. The number of passengers dropped in next years. However, over the last two years the airport experienced passenger traffic increase to just above four million by 2013. Significant traffic increase took place during 2014, with the total number of passengers exceeding the five million mark for the first time.[4]

The table below shows passenger totals at Thessaloniki International Airport by country destination during 2018. [38]

Passenger traffic per country destination (2018)

Rank	Country destination	Passengers	Change %
GR	Greece	2,333,925	0.8
1	Germany	1.488.151	8.9
2	Great Britain	444,284	22.5
3	Cyprus	432,856	2.5
4	Russia	337,676	4.3
5	Italy	235,204	17.6
6	The Netherlands	163.850	55.3
7	Turkey	131,925	2.3
8	Israel	124,232	124.2
9	Poland	118,533	8.9
10	Belgium	111,860	9.4

There are plans to connect the airport with the Thessaloniki Metro network, which is set to open in 2023 after delays. Attiko Metro, the company overseeing the project, has published a map of proposed extensions, and it includes an overground extension of Line 2 towards the airport.[41] This extension is not an immediate concern for the company, however, since the terminus of Line 2, Mikra, will be connected with the airport by a 10-minute shuttle bus.[42] Detailed planning of the metro extension toward the airport was initiated in March 2019.[43]

In the meantime, the airport is served on a 24-hour basis by bus 01X/01N of the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTH), which provides bus services between the Thessaloniki Bus Station (KTEL) and Makedonia airport arrivals/departures.[44]

HA-LCR next to the airport fire station, in April 2018

• On 12 August 1997, Olympic Airways Flight 171, a Boeing 727-230 registered as SX-CBI inbound from Athens Ellinikon Airport, touched down late and was steered off the runway to avoid overrunning into the sea. None of the 35 passengers and crew were killed, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.[45]
• On 17 December 1997, Aerosvit Flight 241, a Yakovlev Yak-42, operating the route from Odessa, Ukraine to Thessaloniki, lost contact with the airport's air traffic control and during the second attempt the aircraft crashed in the Pierian Mountains, near Mount Olympus. A total of 70 people, passengers and crew, 41 of which were Greeks, were killed.
• On 4 July 2000, HA-LCR, a chartered Malév Flight 262 Tupolev Tu-154 landed on its belly. The crew had forgotten to lower the undercarriage and the plane skidded 400 m (1,300 ft) on the runway. Thanks to the plane's robust construction and the engines' high position, the plane was able to become airborne again as the pilots applied full throttle. It circled while the crew lowered the undercarriage and landed safely. There were no injuries. It was considered uneconomical to repair the aircraft. The aircraft still remains on site,[46] although airline markings have been obscured and it has been heavily depleted of re-usable spares.
• On 15 June 2013, an AMC Airlines Boeing 737-800 on behalf of Astra Airlines Greece, registration SU-BPZ performing flight A2-921 from Novosibirsk (Russia) to Thessaloniki (Greece) with 160 passengers, landed on Thessaloniki's runway 16 at about 07:14L (04:14Z) but overran the end of the runway by about 110 meters/360 feet and came to a stop with all gear on soft ground. No injuries occurred, the aircraft received minor if any damage.[47]