Greek Airports Handle More Than 60 Million Passengers in First Eight Months of 2026

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Passenger traffic across Greece’s commercial airports continued to grow in 2026, with more than 60 million passengers estimated to have travelled through the country’s 39 commercial airports between January and August.

According to figures reported by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, passenger traffic increased by more than 4.5 per cent compared with the 57.5 million passengers recorded during the same period in 2025.

Official eight month figures from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority and the Hellenic Aviation Service Provider are expected to be released in the coming days.

Greece’s commercial airport network includes 24 state managed airports, Athens International Airport and 14 regional airports operated by Fraport Greece.

Athens Airport reaches 23.71 million passengers

Athens International Airport recorded 23.71 million passengers from January to August, representing a 4.4 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

International passengers accounted for almost 17 million of the total, while domestic passenger traffic also increased.

Aircraft movements reached 198,571, up 3.9 per cent year on year. Domestic movements rose 4.8 per cent, while international movements increased 3.2 per cent.

August was particularly strong for Athens Airport, which handled more than 4 million passengers in a single month for the first time.

A total of 4.03 million passengers travelled through the airport in August, up 3.7 per cent compared with August 2025. Domestic traffic increased 2.4 per cent, while international traffic rose 4.3 per cent.

Fraport Greece airports record 5.3 per cent growth

The 14 regional airports operated by Fraport Greece handled 27.71 million passengers during the first eight months of 2026, compared with 26.31 million during the same period last year.

That represents an increase of 5.3 per cent.

The network includes major tourist destinations such as Corfu, Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini, Chania, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Thessaloniki and Skiathos.

August was another record month for the Fraport Greece network, with 7.1 million passengers passing through its airports, an increase of 5.1 per cent year on year.

International traffic reached 6.2 million passengers, up 5 per cent, while domestic traffic increased 5.7 per cent to 968,000 passengers.

Corfu Airport also reached a new milestone, handling more than 1 million passengers in August alone for the first time.

Heraklion records strongest daily traffic

Passenger numbers also continued to rise at Greece’s state managed airports, with overall traffic estimated to have increased by more than 3.5 per cent during January to August.

Heraklion’s Nikos Kazantzakis Airport recorded its busiest day ever on August 1, when 68,818 passengers passed through the airport.

By August 23, Heraklion had handled 6.81 million passengers since the start of the year, an increase of 4.6 per cent.

International arrivals rose by 5.1 per cent to 2.88 million.

The latest figures underline continued growth in passenger traffic across Greece’s major gateways, with Athens, Crete and the country’s leading island destinations all recording higher traffic during the peak summer travel period.

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