Thessaloniki International Airport’s new runway construction, completed

The major project concerning the extension of the 10-28 runway of Thessaloniki Macedonia Airport was finally completed on March, 31st. According to information of ypodomes.com, the delivery certificate was issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, concluding a project that had begun back in 2005, averting the possibilty of the country returing funds exceeding 200m euros due to the serious delays. Some secondary projects that do not affect the corridor’s functionality are expected to be completed in the following days. The project is being constructed by J/V AKTOR-ATHENS. 

The target is for the runway to operate towards the end of this year’s touristic season (October-November), meaning that the existing runway (16/34) will be servicing all flights for the coming months.

An important factor for the completion of this multifaceted project was the excellent coordination of the involved parties and government bodies in the construction, acting under the guidance of the General Directorate of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. According to sources from Fraport Greece as soon as the new runway is received, it will take 6 to 8 months for a “user’s manual” to be compiled, i.e. instructions for the safe use of the corridor, under any circumstances. This effort will require the co-operation of many stakeholders, including, of course, Fraport Greece, CAA and the airliners.

It is noteworthy that the project had been characterized as one of the “never-ending” works of the constructions industry due to its prolonged duration and its cost, which is estimated at over 300m euros. In addition to the main project, a parallel taxiway is also being extended. For the construction of the two corridors, a sea section, 1,064 meters long and 450 meters wide, is being filled with dirt. The budget for this project was 246m euros.

The upgrade and extension of runway 10-28 is an absolute prerequisite for enabling Makedonia Airport to accept transatlantic flights (the length of the corridor will be 3.4 km) and increase its overall flights capacity. It is also a major factor regarding the development of tourism for both the city of Thessaloniki and the Region of Central Macedonia. Last April another upgrade project, concerning the land section of runway 10-28, was completed and released to operation.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com