Moreover, in the case of airports with increased
military activity (i.e. those of Chania and Aktion)
the concession does not include the landing and
taxing runways, which remain with the Hellenic Air
Force; it only includes the air terminal and the
commercial aircraft parking apron, while the con-
cessionaire will compensate the Greek state for
the use of common infrastructures.
Infrastructure upgrades
One of the key objectives of the deal is to upgrade
regional airports, which require substantial invest-
ments. The upgrade will produce major benefits
for Greek tourism, and will boost the development
of Greek islands and other destinations covered
by the regional airports, which will be able to pro-
vide passengers with higher quality services. In
many cases, the airports’ existing capacity will
increase manifold.
The concessionaire is required to upgrade the air-
ports within the first 4 years, in order to ensure
compliance with the Level C objective criteria, as
defined by ΙΑΤΑ, and from then on maintain and
preserve these levels of service throughout the
entire duration of the concession.
The size of the investments will be defined after
the concession agreement comes into force, fol-
lowing the assessment of the terminals’ capacity
by a specialised third agency, the preparation of
the master plans by the company, and their
approval by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The concessionaire estimates that the required
investments will amount to 330 million euros dur-
ing the fist 4 years of the concession and will
cover, among others, the construction of main ter-
minal extensions (according to the needs of each
regional airport) of a total area of 126,451 square
metres, i.e. an area 4.7 times that of the existing
terminal of the Thessaloniki airport or 80% of the
floor area of the main terminal at Eleftherios
Venizelos. Total investment during the 40-year
concession period is estimated at 1.4 billion
euros.
Both the concession agreements and the applica-
ble laws provide for a strict framework of continu-
ous inspections, to ensure that the airports oper-
ate safely, with respect to the environment, and
on the basis of high airport-user (passenger and
airline) service standards.
Pricing policy
Regional airport prices will not increase until after
the upgrades have been completed; however,
even after such an increase, the airports will
remain competitive in comparison to airports with
similar features (seasonality, tourist character) in
the wider region of Southern Europe and the
Mediterranean.
Thus, the airports will become a major economic
recovery driver, while their upgrading will help
Greece become more competitive as a tourist
destination. The improvement of the level of infra-
structures and services will help attract a larger
number of airlines to the airports included in the
agreement.
Improvement of existing competition
Today, all the country’s airports, excluding the
Athens International Airport (AIA), are under the
auspices/management of the CAA. Following the
signing of the concession agreements, the struc-
ture of the aviation market will be characterised
by increased dispersion among the following
operators:
a) the AIA, handling more than 15 mn passengers
per year;
b) the concessionaire, managing 14 regional air-
ports and handling almost 18 mn passengers per
year (almost 45% of the total number of passen-
gers);
c) the CAA, managing the 22 non-privatised air-
ports;
d) either before or after the awarding of the con-
cession agreement for the international airport at
Kastelli, Heraklion Crete, either the CAA or the
selected investor, responsible for handling almost
6 mn passengers per year.
Therefore, the Greek market will consist of 4 dif-
ferent airport operators.
Trade with Greece
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