Rhodes International Airport
Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras", or Diagoras International Airport, is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located just north of the village Paradeisi, about southwest of the capital city, Rhodes. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, with 5,542,567 passengers utilizing the airport.
History
Civil aviation on Rhodes started after the Second World War, on the location of the nearby military Rhodes Maritsa Airport.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
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. "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters. According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports for 40 years as of autumn 2016.
Facilities
Runway
The airport's single runway direction is 065/245 degrees, having a length of 3,305 meters and a width of 60 meters. There are two taxiways and four taxi links connecting the runway with the apron. The apron with the new pushback configuration can accommodate up to 20 ICAO reference category C or smaller airplanes, simultaneously. Three parking positions have MARS capability and can accommodate larger category D and E aircraft, such as the Airbus A330, A340 and A350 and the Boeing 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787. There is a small general aviation apron with three dedicated positions for small propelled or jet aircraft.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.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
- 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
- 13 percent increase in the number of departure gates
- 71 percent in the number of security-check lanes
- 25 percent increase in the number of baggage reclaim belts