Airport type Public Serves Rodos Hub for Olympic Air Elevation 6 m Yearly aircraft movements 35,889 | Owner Greek state Location Paradisi Code RHO Phone +30 2241 088700 Passenger count 5,007,159 | |
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Operator Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (until 15/3/2017) Address International Airport, Paradisi 851 06, Greece | ||
Rhodes international airport diagoras rhodos rodos island greece
Rhodes International Airport, "Diagoras" (Greek: Κρατικός 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 Paradisi, about 14 km southwest of the capital city, Rodos. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2016, with 5,007,159 passengers utilizing the airport.
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Landing on rhodes international airport diagoras 8 september 2011
History
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 1980, 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.
Over the passing years, many improvements have been made to the airport, like expansion of taxiways, platform and airport buildings. The most recent upgrade is the new passenger terminal, which opened in 2005, to better accommodate the growing amount of charters and passengers. The airport's plants currently cover a total area of 60,000 m2
In 2015, Rhodes Airport was closed for 14 hours after a 'sinkhole' appeared on the runway. Flights were diverted to 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. "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 (including Rhodes International Airport) for 40 years as of autumn 2016.
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.
Traffic figures
Annual Passenger Throughput: 16-year history
Ground transport
By car the airport can be reached via the main road along the west coast (Rhodes-Kamiros Avn.). Rodos city is some 30 minutes driving away. Buses to Rodos city depart regularly and the journey takes about 40 minutes.