Kalamata International Airport
| Kalamata International Airport "Captain Vasilis Konstantakopoulos" Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καλαμάτας «Καπετάν Βασίλης Κωνσταντακόπουλος» | |||||||||||||||
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| IATA: KLX – ICAO: LGKL | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Greek state | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | HCAA | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Kalamata | ||||||||||||||
| Focus city for | |||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 26 ft / 8 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°04′06.18″N 22°01′32.29″E / 37.0683833°N 22.0256361°ECoordinates: 37°04′06.18″N 22°01′32.29″E / 37.0683833°N 22.0256361°E | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  KLX | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2015) | |||||||||||||||
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Kalamata International Airport (Greek: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καλαμάτας) (IATA: KLX, ICAO: LGKL) "Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos" is an airport in the city of Kalamata, Greece. It mainly receives flights during the summer. On March 2013, Aegean Airlines opened a base in the airport.[3]
Overview
The airport is located between Kalamata and Messini on GR-82 (Pylos – Kalamata – Sparta) and west of the train tracks on the Pamisos River plain. The runway is about 2.7 km long and runs from north to south from the highway north to the plain. The terminal lies to the east and is accessed with GR-7/E55/E65 (Kalamata – Tripoli – Corinth).
There is a military base of the Hellenic Air Force and an air-training department to the west of the runway. Hellenic Air Force uses the same runway as the commercial airplanes.
History
- 1959 – Kalamata International Airport opens
- 1986 – Charter flights begin to operate out of the airport
- 1991 – New aircraft terminal was built
- 1991 – Operated by Hellenic Civil Aviation
- 2012 – Renamed "Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos" after Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines | Munich Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Lyon, Milan–Malpensa, Nantes, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Stockholm-Arlanda |
| Adria Airways | Seasonal charter: Ljubljana |
| Arkia | Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv |
| Austrian Airlines | Seasonal: Vienna |
| British Airways | Seasonal: London-Heathrow |
| Condor | Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich |
| easyJet | Seasonal: London-Gatwick |
| Niki | Seasonal: Vienna |
| Olympic Air | Thessaloniki (PSO) Seasonal: Athens (begins 1 June 2017)[4] |
| Primera Air | Seasonal: Billund, Copenhagen (both begin 18 May 2017)[5] |
| SmartWings operated by Travel Service Slovakia | Seasonal charter: Bratislava , Warsaw |
| SAS | Seasonal charter: Oslo |
| Small Planet Airlines | Seasonal charter: Katowice |
| Thomas Cook Airlines | Seasonal: Manchester[6] |
| Thomas Cook Airlines operated by SmartLynx Airlines | Seasonal: Birmingham, London-Gatwick |
| Transavia | Seasonal: Amsterdam |
| Travel Service Airlines | Seasonal charter: Prague[7] |
| Vueling | Seasonal: Rome-Fiumicino[8] |
Accidents and incidents
- On 16 October 1971 an Olympic Airways NAMC YS-11 was hijacked. It had departed from Kalamata International Airport to Hellinikon International Airport. All 64 passengers survived. One hijacker demanded to be taken to Lebanon. Plane stormed and hijacker arrested. The hijacking lasted less than a day.
- On November 2001, fourteen plane spotters (12 British and 2 Dutch) were arrested by the police after being observed taking photos of the air base.
Ground Transport
The airport has been criticised for the lack of public transport. The only way to reach the airport is by car and taxi. A stop on the adjacent train line to Messini and Kalamata is not operational.
Trivia
- The airport is featured in the opening scene of the 2013 film Before Midnight.
See also
References
- ↑ Jeppesen aerodrome charts
- ↑ "KALAMATA AIRPORT "CAPTAIN VASSILIS CONSTANTAKOPOULOS"". ypa.gr. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- ↑ http://el.aegeanair.com/i-etaireia/grafeio-tupou/deltia-tupou/deltio-tupou/?prid=404
- ↑ https://en.aegeanair.com/
- ↑ https://primeraair.com//
- ↑ https://www.thomascookairlines.com/
- ↑ "Flight Search". Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2015/10/06/vy-fco-s16/
External links
- Greek Airports: Kalamata International Airport(broken)
- Greek Airport Guide: Kalamata Airport
- LGKL Statistics:
- http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19711016-0 Hijacked Plane
- Airport information for LGKL at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.