Regional airports hit hard by the pandemic
Traffic at Greece’s 14 regional airports managed by German transport company Fraport has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to data released by the company, total traffic at the airports in July came to 1.3 million arriving and departing passengers, a 75.1% drop from the figure in July 2019. Regional airports reopened on June 15.
International departures and arrivals suffered a far greater slump, 78.5%, compared to domestic traffic (56.5%).
In percentage terms, the largest decline was seen on the island of Skiathos, where only 16,700 travelers used the airport, compared to 113,300 in July 2019, a drop of 85.2%. The western airports of Cephalonia, on the island of the same name, and Aktion, on the mainland, followed, with passenger numbers sinking 84.3% and 81.7%, respectively.
The airports of Kavala, Hania, Rhodes, Kos, Corfu, Zakynthos, Mykonos and Santorini saw traffic plunge between 74.9% and just under 80%.
Relatively fewer traffic losses were posted at the airports of Samos (71%), Thessaloniki (63.5%) and Mytilene (56%).
Thessaloniki’s Makedonia Airport saw the heaviest traffic outside Athens in July, with about 292,300 passengers (down from 801,800 in July 2019). It was followed by Rhodes (226,000), Corfu (152,100), Hania (112,100), Santorini (100,000) and Mykonos (87,900).
Total passenger traffic at the Fraport-managed airports during the first seven months of the year was about 3 million, or 81 percent lower than the 16.2 million who used the airports during the first seven months of 2019.
During the first half of 2020, Fraport AG, the Frankfurt-based parent company of Fraport Greece, saw its turnover plunge 48.9% to €910.6 million; earnings before interest, taxes, and asset depreciation (EBITDA) dropped 95.6% to €22.6 million, while earnings before interest and taxes alone (EBIT) plunged into the red, with the loss amounting to €210.2 million.
The Fraport Group showed a net loss of €231.4 million, from a €164.9 million profit in the first half of 2019, as all subsidiaries, except that in Lima, Peru, posted losses.
