Fraport Greece is considering additional investments at the Macedonian airport in Thessaloniki. They are optional and represent a personal initiative of the management company. The German-Greek consortium, led by 14 regional airports, has completed most of the initial investment program of € 450 million.

Airport Modernization Plan

During the presentation of the logistics center that will operate at the Macedonia airport, Alexander Zinell, Executive Director of Fraport Greece, said that there is still an empty section near the airport that can be used for development.

According to preliminary data, this territory is considered as a site for the construction of a shopping complex, additional logistics centers, and a hotel. Macedonia Airport executives take the example from the Sofitel Hotel, located near Athens International Airport. Top managers believe that the hotel will provide additional passenger traffic.

Recently, DHL Express Hellas and Fraport Greece signed a 10-year cooperation agreement at Macedonia Airport. Following this agreement, DHL Express will make the largest investments in northern Greece, namely, it will build a new distribution center. A budget of more than € 7 million has already been allocated for the project.

Reduction in passenger flow

Greece relies on the tourism industry, therefore, maximum attention is paid to improving infrastructure. Especially a lot of financial resources are invested in airports since it is with them that the convenience of guests of Greece begins. But not everything is smooth in the tourism sector.

According to statistics, passenger traffic from Russia to the airports of Athens, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Rhodes, and Corfu has significantly decreased compared to last year. For the first 3 quarters of this year, 579.7 thousand guests from Russia arrived through these airports, and for the same nine months of last year - 626.8 thousand. Passenger traffic decreased by 7.5% over the year. According to industry representatives, the Russians preferred a holiday in Turkey.

The most significant outflow of tourists is recorded in Crete. According to the latest data, in 2019 the island was visited by 12.4% fewer tourists than in 2018. A similar decline is recorded in Corfu. But the north of the country shows more rosy results. In particular, the decrease in passenger traffic to Thessaloniki Airport was only 1.25%.