Rhodes International Airport

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδου "Διαγόρας"), or Diagoras International Airport (IATA: RHO, ICAO: LGRP), is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located just north of the village Paradeisi, about 14 km southwest of the capital city, Rodos. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, with 5,542,567 passengers utilizing the airport.[2]

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras" Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδος "Διαγόρας"
IATA: RHO ICAO: LGRP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Greek state
Operator	Fraport Greece
Serves	Rhodes
Location	Paradeisi
Hub for	Olympic Air
Focus city for	Aegean Airlines
Elevation AMSL	6 m / 19 ft
Coordinates	36°24′19.51″N 28°05′10.29″E
Website	rho-airport.gr
Map
RHO Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 3,305 10,844 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers 5,542,567 Passenger traffic change 0.5% Aircraft movements 37,468 Aircraft movements change 3.1%
Runway[1] Statistics[2]

History

Check-in at Rhodes Airport

Civil aviation on Rhodes started after the Second World War, on the location of the nearby military Rhodes Maritsa Airport.

This was the island's main airport until 1977, when the new Rhodes International Airport was opened. The need for a new facility was big, as the 'old' Maritsa airport did not meet the needs for a modern civil airport. The new "Diagoras" airport was built in 1977. It was decided that, on this location, it would meet the needs of the island better.

Improvements have been made to the airport, like expansion of taxiways, platform and airport buildings. The most recent upgrade is a new passenger terminal, opened in 2005, to accommodate the growing number of charter flights and passengers. The airport's plants currently cover a total area of 60,000 m²[3]

In 2015, Rhodes Airport was closed for 14 hours after a 'sinkhole' appeared in the runway. Flights were diverted to surrounding airports such as Kos and Heraklion as well as Athens and the runway was fixed and reopened shortly afterwards.

In December 2015, the privatisation of Rhodes 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 Rhodes International Airport) for 40 years as of autumn 2016.

Facilities

Terminal

Rhodes Airport terminal is actually 2 separate buildings with a joined corridor in the middle. Departures are served both in ground (check-ins, baggage checks) and first floor (passenger screening, gates, shops) while arrivals are served only in ground floor's southern corner where passport control, customs and baggage reclaim operate. Airport does not have air bridges so boarding and disembarking require the use of buses.

Both terminals are and will be under renovations for the next couple of years from Fraport as a series of chronic problems need to be addressed. Toilets and air conditioning system were first to be fixed while more complicated works including new check in facilities that will eliminate double checks for baggage as well interior remodeling will proceed gradually during low traffic winter months.

Airport also hosts all necessary services such as a police station, a medical clinic, airline and handlers offices, rent-a-car and tour operators kiosks, VIP halls as well recently refurbished duty free shops, cafes and restaurants.

Runway

The airport's single runway direction is 070/250, having a length of 3,306 meters and a width of 60 meters. There are six taxiways connecting the runway with the terminal. Tarmac can accommodate up to 14 airplanes simultaneously and up to A380. New parking spots as well rearrangements on airplanes' parking patterns engaging ground vehicles is expected to increase capacity.

Future of the Airport - Fraport Greece’s investment plan

On 22 March 2017, the Fraport-Greece presented its master plan for the 14 regional airports including the International Airport of Rhodes.[6]

The following summarizes the enhancement changes that started in November 2017 and will be implemented for Rhodes International Airport under Fraport Greece’s investment plan: Immediate actions that were implemented at the airports as soon as Fraport Greece took over operations and 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 new free Internet connection (WiFi)
• Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airports
• Remodeling the current terminal
• Reorganizing the airport apron area
• New fire station
• 13 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 40 to 45)
• 13 percent increase in the number of departure gates (from 16 to 18)
• 71 percent in the number of security-check lanes (from 7 to 12)
• 25 percent increase in the number of baggage reclaim belts (from 4 to 5)

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens, Thessaloniki Seasonal: Frankfurt, Heraklion, Larnaca, Lyon, Marseille, Munich, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Saint Petersburg, Zürich Seasonal charter: Åre Östersund,[7] Copenhagen,[8] Ljubljana, Molde,[9] Trondheim,[10] Wrocław[11]
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin
Aeroflot	Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo
airBaltic	Seasonal: Riga (resumes 24 April 2021)[12]
Aircompany Armenia	Seasonal: Yerevan
Alitalia	Seasonal: Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino[13]
Arkia	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna
Aviolet	Seasonal charter: Belgrade[14]
Belavia	Seasonal charter: Minsk[15]
Bluebird Airways	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Blue Panorama Airlines	Seasonal: Bergamo,[16] Bologna, Rome–Fiumicino
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Gatwick, London–Heathrow [17]
Buzz	Seasonal charter: Kraków[11]
Chair Airlines	Seasonal: Zürich
Condor	Seasonal: Berlin–Schönefeld ,[18] Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Stuttgart
Corendon Airlines Europe[19]	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Erfurt/Weimar,[20] Friedrichshafen,[20] Graz, Hannover, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden,[20] Katowice,[20] Leipzig/Halle, Linz, London–Gatwick (begins 3 June 2021),[21] Memmingen,[20] Munich, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Weeze (begins 4 June 2021) Seasonal charter: Billund,[22] Bratislava ,[20] Copenhagen,[22] Joensuu,[22] Stockholm–Arlanda[22]
Corendon Dutch Airlines	Seasonal: Maastricht/Aachen
Cyprus Airways	Seasonal: Larnaca
easyJet	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Berlin–Schönefeld, Berlin-Tegel, Bristol, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa, Paris–Orly, Venice
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zürich
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Gdańsk,[11] Katowice,[11] Kraków,[11] Łódź,[11] Poznań,[11] Wrocław[11]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart[23]
Finnair	Seasonal: Helsinki
flyBAIR	Seasonal charter: Bern
Freebird Airlines Europe	Seasonal charter: Leipzig/Halle[24]
Israir	Seasonal: Haifa ,[25] Tel Aviv
Jet2.com	Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
LOT Polish Airlines	Seasonal: Gdańsk,[26] Katowice, [27] Warsaw–Chopin,[28] Wrocław [29]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Munich
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg
Neos	Seasonal: Bergamo, Bologna, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona[30]
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda Seasonal charter: Luleå (begins 16 August 2020),[7] Stavanger,[10] Trondheim
Novair	Seasonal charter: Ålesund ,[31] Oulu, Skellefteå
Olympic Air	Kastellorizo
Ryanair	Seasonal: Bergamo, Berlin–Tegel,[32] Bologna, Charleroi, Düsseldorf, East Midlands, Kaunas, Liverpool, London–Stansted, Manchester, Naples, Pisa, Prague,[33] Rome–Fiumicino, Stockholm–Skavsta, Vienna[34]
Royal Flight[35]	Seasonal charter: Krasnodar, Moscow–Sheremetyevo
S7 Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow–Domodedovo[36]
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal: Copenhagen [37] Seasonal charter: Umeå,[7] Trondheim
Sky Express	Astypalaia, Chios, Heraklion, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kasos, Kos, Lemnos, Leros, Mytilene, Samos Seasonal: Sitia[38]
SkyUp	Seasonal charter: Kiev–Boryspil[39]
Smartwings	Seasonal: Brno, Košice, Ostrava, Pardubice, Prague
Smartwings Hungary	Seasonal: Budapest[40]
Smartwings Poland	Seasonal: Wrocław[11]
Smartwings Slovakia	Seasonal: Bratislava
Sunclass Airlines	Seasonal charter: Åre Östersund,[7] Bergen,[41] Billund,[42] Copenhagen,[42] Borlänge,[7] Gothenburg,[7] Helsinki,[43] Karlstad,[7] Malmö,[7] Norrköping,[7] Örebro,[7] Oslo–Gardermoen,[41] Sandefjord,[41] Stavanger,[41] Stockholm–Arlanda,[7] Trondheim,[41] Växjö [7]
Sundair	Seasonal: Bremen, Dresden, Kassel[44]
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Geneva
Transavia	Seasonal: Amsterdam
Trade Air	Seasonal charter: Ljubljana
Transavia France	Seasonal: Nantes,[45] Paris–Orly
TUI Airways[46]	Seasonal: Aberdeen, Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich[47] Seasonal charter: Dublin[48]
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels, Charleroi, Liège, Ostend/Bruges Seasonal charter: Dole,[49] Strasbourg[49]
TUI fly Deutschland	Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse, Berlin–Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart
TUI fly Netherlands	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Rotterdam
TUI fly Nordic	Seasonal charter: Copenhagen,[50] Gothenburg,[51] Helsinki, Norrköping ,[52] Oslo–Gardermoen,[10] Stockholm–Arlanda[51]
Ural Airlines	Seasonal charter: St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg[53]
Volotea	Athens Seasonal: Palermo,[54] Venice
Vueling	Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[55]
Widerøe	Seasonal charter: Sandefjord [56]
Windrose Airlines	Seasonal charter: Kiev–Boryspil[57]
Wizz Air	Seasonal: Budapest, Dortmund ,[58] London–Luton ,[59] Milan–Malpensa ,[60] Tirana (begins 28 March 2021),[61] Vienna [62]

Traffic figures

Figures are taken from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) [63] until 2016 and since 2017 from the official website of the airport.[64]

Year Passengers Domestic International Total 1994 380,072 2,111,714 2,491,786 1995 419,701 1,924,922 2,344,623 1996 477,396 1,764,121 2,241,517 1997 559,768 1,955,527 2,515,295 1998 535,284 2,137,028 2,672,312 1999 638,389 2,653,129 3,291,518 2000 720,560 2,686,490 3,407,050 2001 682,469 2,745,706 3,428,175 2002 628,837 2,601,646 3,230,483 2003 689,315 2,476,755 3,166,070 2004 697,873 2,338,650 3,036,523 2005 750,476 2,457,038 3,207,514 2006 809,965 2,681,557 3,491,522 2007 839,326 2,786,636 3,625,962 2008 843,529 2,723,940 3,567,469 2009 826,677 2,643,434 3,470,111 2010 736,566 2,850,006 3,586,572 2011 676,463 3,471,923 4,148,386 2012 600,167 3,213,780 3,813,947 2013 626,594 3,573,465 4,200,059 2014 691,040 3,861,016 4,552,056 2015 793,025 3,785,998 4,579,023 2016 848,878 4,093,508 4,942,386 2017 868,459 4,432,764 5,301,223 2018 829,475 4,738,273 5,567,748 2019 803.996 4.738.571 5.542.567 2020 (Jul) 206.397 182.031 388.428

Transport

Public bus: Bus service is provided between the Airport and the city of Rhodes (No 23-35). Bus stop is located between the new and the old terminal.[65]

Taxi: Taxi service is available outside Rhodes Airport arrivals hall.[66]

Car: Rhodes Airport is located 14 km from the city of Rhodes and is accessible from the provincial road Rhodes-Kamiros.[67]

See also

• List of the busiest airports in Greece
• Transport in Greece

References

1. Jeppesen aerodrome charts
2. "RODOS AIRPORT "DIAGORAS"". rho-airport.gr. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
3. "Rhodes Diagoras International Airport History, Facts and Overview". Airports Guides. airports-guides.com. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
4. "Tornos News | Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport". tornosnews.gr. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
5. Reuters Editorial. "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport | Reuters". uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
6. "Fraport Greece’s Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports", fraport-greece.com
7. "Flight". ving.se.
8. "Grækere åbner tredje CPH-rute". 12 December 2015.
9. "MOLDE AIRPORT - RHODES". avinor.no. 5 July 2018.
10. "Only Flight". tui.no.
11. "Charter flights". tui.pl.
12. https://www.leta.lv/eng/home/press_release/6B246BC6-9682-4A53-B0E8-2CADC0F77D1B/
13. "Alitalia - Biglietti aerei - Voli nazionali e internazionali". alitalia.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
14. "Charter schedule" (PDF). aviolet.rs.
15. "Flight". mouzenidis.com.
16. "Blu Express Adds New Milan Bergamo – Greece Seasonal Routes Jul – Sep 2015". Airline Route. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
17. "GET INTO THE 2020 HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH SIX NEW BRITISH AIRWAYS ROUTES FROM HEATHROW". British Airways. 12 December 2019.
18. Liu, Jim (7 January 2020). "Condor S20 Short-Haul network additions as of 06JAN20". routesonline.com.
19. "Flights". corendonairlines.com.
20. Liu, Jim (27 January 2020). "Corendon Airlines S20 Network expansion". routesonline.com.
21. https://www.corendonairlines.com/
22. Liu, Jim. "Corendon Airlines Europe S19 new routes/sectors". Routesonline. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
23. 2017, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Eurowings expands Stuttgart service in S17". Retrieved 4 May 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
24. "Tui sends Freebird Europe to Leipzig / Halle - Airbus A320 is stationed in Schkeuditz". lvz.de. 4 October 2019.
25. Liu, Jim (3 February 2020). "Israir adds Haifa – Rhodes service from June 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
26. https://businessinsider.com.pl/firmy/wakacje-2020-lot-poleci-do-kurortow-w-grecji-hiszpanii-i-wloch/zz5f5ew
27. "LOT will launch 130 connections to several dozen European resorts". 24 June 2020.
28. https://businessinsider.com.pl/firmy/wakacje-2020-lot-poleci-do-kurortow-w-grecji-hiszpanii-i-wloch/zz5f5ew
29. "LOT will launch 130 connections to several dozen European resorts". 24 June 2020.
30. "Flight Times". neosair.it/en.
31. Liu, Jim (3 January 2020). "Nova Airlines expands Rhodes service in S20". routesonline.com.
32. "Ryanair to swap German bases with LaudaMotion". ch-aviation.com. 20 October 2018.
33. https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-launches-14-new-routes-in-greece-for-summer-2020/?market=gr
34. Liu, Jim. "Ryanair / Laudamotion S20 network consolidation as of 18JUN20". Routesonline. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
35. "Flight Map". royalflight.ru.
36. "S7 Airlines opens flights to Rhodes". S7 Airlines. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
37. Liu, Jim (9 October 2019). "SAS S20 Short-Haul network changes as of 08OCT19". routesonline.com.
38. Ltd. 2018, UBM (UK). "Sky Express new domestic routes addition in S17". Routesonline. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
39. "freight monitor". online.joinup.ua.
40. "Smartwings Expands Bratislava Service in S15 :: Routesonline". airlineroute.net. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
41. "Flight". ving.no.
42. "Flight". spies.dk.
43. "Flight". tjareborg.fi.
44. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/287002/sundair-s20-operations-as-of-18oct19/
45. Liu, Jim. "Transavia France S20 network expansion as of 17JAN20". Routesonline. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
46. "Flight Timetable". tui.co.uk. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
47. 2017, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Thomson outlines planned new routes in S17". Retrieved 4 May 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
48. "Flight Timetable". tuiholidays.ie. 10 February 2018.
49. 2017, UBM (UK) Ltd. "TUI Belgium outlines S17 new French / Italian routes". Retrieved 4 May 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
50. "Only Flight". tui.dk.
51. "Only Flight". tui.se.
52. Liu, Jim (3 January 2020). "TUIfly Nordic outlines Norrkoping network in S20". routesonline.com.
53. "Flight Search". pegasys.pegast.ru. 19 February 2018.
54. "VOLOTEA - Cheap flights, offers and plane tickets to Europe". Volotea. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
55. "Vueling open 24 new routes from Rome". Vuelingnews.com. 20 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013.
57. "WindRose S16 Planned Operations :: Routesonline". airlineroute.net. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
58. https://airlinergs.com/wizz-air-announces-a-new-base-in-dortmund/
59. https://wizzair.com/#/
60. https://www.wetravel.biz/2020/05/28/wizzair-nuova-base-a-malpensa/
61. https://wizzair.com/#/
62. https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/wizz-air/wizz-air-to-launch-new-routes-from-vienna-to-charleroi-tallinn-rhodes-heraklion-burgas-constanta-zakynthos-and-marrakesh/
63. "RODOS AIRPORT", ypa.gr
64. "Air Traffic statistics", rho-airport.gr
65. "By Public Bus | Rhodes Airport (RHO)". www.rho-airport.gr. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
66. "By Taxi | Rhodes Airport (RHO)". www.rho-airport.gr. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
67. "By Car | Rhodes Airport (RHO)". www.rho-airport.gr. Retrieved 12 August 2017.

External links

• Media related to Rhodes International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Greek Airport Guide: Rodos Airport, "Diagoras"
• Airport information for LGRP at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.