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Samos International Airport

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Samos International Airport "Aristarchos of Samos"
Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Σάμου "Αρίσταρχος ο Σάμιος»
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorFraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture
ServesVathy
LocationSamos Island, Greece
Elevation AMSL19 ft (5.8 m)
Coordinates37°41′24″N 026°54′42″E / 37.69000°N 26.91167°E / 37.69000; 26.91167
Websitesmi-airport.gr
Map
SMI is located in Greece
SMI
SMI
Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 6,890 2,100 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers453,264
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 67.7%
Aircraft movements5,700
Aircraft movements changeIncrease 23.2%
Sources:HCAA,[2] Fraport Greece[3]

Samos International Airport "Aristarchos of Samos" (IATA: SMI, ICAO: LGSM) is an airport on Samos Island, Greece.

The airport is named after Aristarchos of Samos, an ancient astronomer and mathematician, and lies within 5 km (3.1 mi) from the nearby town of Pythagorio. The airport has a single short runway. The airport's surroundings leave little room for error or mistake on the behalf of the pilots – with nearby mountains and sea at the end of the short runway. In summer there are often strong Meltemi winds from the north, which further contribute to the difficulty of the landing.

There is one terminal building. There are six boarding gates, none of which have jet-bridges. Passenger facilities are split across two floors and include a duty-free shop and a small café.[citation needed]

History

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The airport first operated in May 1976.[4] In the late 1990s/early 2000s, the terminal was renovated: the capacity of the airport was increased to deal with increasing passenger numbers.

In December 2015, the privatisation of Samos 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.[5] "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.[6] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Samos International Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

Future investment

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On 22 March 2017, Fraport Greece presented its master plan for the 14 regional airports including the International Airport of Samos.[7]

The following summarizes the enhancement changes that will be started in October 2017 and will be implemented for Samos International Airport under Fraport Greece's investment plan until 2021:

  • General clean-up
  • Improving lighting, marking of airside areas.
  • Upgrading sanitary facilities
  • Enhancing services and offering a new free Internet connection (WiFi)
  • Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airport
  • Expanding and remodeling the current terminal
  • New fire station
  • Reorganizing the airport apron area
  • 19 percent increase in the total size of the terminal at 9,605 m2
  • 40 percent increase in the number of check-in counters (from 10 to 14)
  • 25 percent increase in the number of departure gates (from 4 to 5)
  • 50 percent increase in the number of security lanes (from 2 to 3)

In January 2021, Fraport Greece concluded the last of the construction works for the 14 airports – well ahead of the April 2021 contractual deadline.[8]

On 9 October 2024, Fraport Greece announced it would proceed with the third phase of runway construction at nine regional airports in Greece, including the International Airport of Samos. For the construction Samos Airport was to be closed from 5 November 2024 to 25 November 2024.[9]

On 21 July 2025, Fraport Greece announced it would proceed with the forth phase of runway construction at eight regional airports in Greece, including the International Airport of Samos. For the construction Samos Airport is scheduled to be closed for 24hrs every Wednesday, 00:01 - 23:59 (local time), from 18 November 2025 to 24 March 2026, with 23, 24 and 31 December 2025, as well as 6 and 7 January 2026, being exempted.[10]

Airlines and destinations

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Check-in hall
View of the airport from the west
Boarding gate

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Samos Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens[11]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna[12]
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[13]
Condor Seasonal: Frankfurt[12]
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Amsterdam[12]
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Munich[12]
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zürich[12]
Eurowings Seasonal: Düsseldorf[12]
Jet2.com Seasonal: Birmingham,[14] London–Stansted,[15] Manchester[15]
Neos Seasonal: Milan–Malpensa[12]
Olympic Air Thessaloniki[16]
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal charter: Stockholm–Arlanda[17] Trondheim[18]
Sky Express Chios,[19] Lemnos,[19] Mytilene,[19] Rhodes,[19] Thessaloniki[20]
Smartwings Seasonal: Prague[12]
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam[12]
TUI Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick[21] Mytilene[22]
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels[23]
TUI fly Netherlands Seasonal: Amsterdam[24]
TUI fly Nordic Seasonal charter: Stockholm–Arlanda[12]

Statistics

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The data are from Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)[25] until 2016, and data from 2017 and later are from the official website of the airport.[26]

Year Passengers
Domestic International Total
1994 121,370 296,640 418,010
1995 Increase 132,269 Increase 282,192 Increase 414,461
1996 Increase 141,864 Decrease 264,430 Decrease 406,294
1997 Increase 149,564 Decrease 263,334 Increase 412,898
1998 Decrease 146,056 Increase 277,498 Increase 423,554
1999 Increase 189,132 Increase 314,704 Increase 503,836
2000 Decrease 180,446 Decrease 287,948 Decrease 468,394
2001 Decrease 154,004 Increase 304,686 Decrease 458,690
2002 Decrease 141,362 Decrease 283,488 Decrease 424,850
2003 Increase 142,212 Decrease 266,835 Decrease 409,047
2004 Increase 153,067 Decrease 240,562 Decrease 393,629
2005 Increase 155,534 Decrease 236,593 Decrease 392,127
2006 Increase 190,879 Increase 260,039 Increase 450,918
2007 Increase 216,605 Increase 265,382 Increase 481,987
2008 Decrease 204,873 Increase 266,993 Decrease 471,866
2009 Increase 216,174 Decrease 230,968 Increase 447,142
2010 Decrease 193,530 Decrease 217,035 Decrease 410,565
2011 Decrease 172,672 Increase 236,048 Decrease 408,720
2012 Decrease 149,664 Decrease 214,984 Decrease 364,648
2013 Decrease 136,641 Decrease 207,076 Decrease 343,717
2014 Increase 151,107 Increase 245,201 Increase 396,308
2015 Decrease 149,302 Increase 253,848 Increase 403,150
2016 Increase 153,240 Decrease 193,540 Decrease 346,780
2017 Increase 161,313 Increase 248,972 Increase 410,331
2018 Increase 159,763 Increase 290,128 Increase 449,891
2019 Increase 168,892 Increase 298,503 Increase 467,395
2020 Decrease 100,669 Decrease 43,630 Decrease 144,299
2021 Increase 131,580 Increase 138,718 Increase 270,298
2022 Increase 174,647 Increase 278,617 Increase 453,264
2023 Increase 193,356 Increase 283,950 Increase 477,306
2024 Decrease 192,817 Increase 295,377 Increase 488,194
2025 Increase 210,689 Decrease 285,728 Increase 496,417

Traffic statistics by country (2022)

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Traffic by country at Samos International Airport – 2022[27]
Place Country Total passengers
1 Greece 174,647
2 Netherlands 65,079
3 Germany 59,112
4 Sweden 27,007
5 Denmark 23,656
6 Poland 17,803
7 Belgium 14,944
8 Italy 13,488
9 Norway 13,011
10 Czech Republic 11,849
11 Finland 7,715
12 Slovenia 7,625
13 United Kingdom 6,827
14 Switzerland 4,282
15 Austria 3,599

Accidents and incidents

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "METAR/Synop Information for LGSM (16723) in Samos Airport , Greece". Gladstonefamily.net. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "SAMOS AIRPORT "ARISTARCHOS OF SAMOS"". ypa.gr. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Air traffic statistics" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "Samos Airport". Retrieved 10 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ↑ "Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport". Tornos News. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport". Reuters. 14 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Fraport Greece's Development Plan for the New Era at the Greek Regional Airports". fraport-greece.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Development Plans". Fraport AG. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Runway construction works at the airports of Zakynthos (ZTH), Kavala (KVA), Kefallonia (EFL), Corfu (CFU), Mykonos (JMK), Santorini (JTR), Samos (SMI), Rhodes (RHO), & Mitiline (MJT) enter third phase". Fraport AG. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "Fourth Phase of Runway Construction Works at the Regional Airports". Fraport AG. 21 July 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "AEGEAN: Flight occupancy exceeds 75% for Easter; top domestic and international destinations" (in Greek). 7 April 2026. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Hundreds of direct flights from European cities to Samos island this summer! - Samos Voice" (in Greek). 20 February 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "Brussels Airlines adds eight new destinations to its Summer 2022 schedule". 18 January 2022.
  14. ↑ "Jet2 expands Samos programme with addition of Birmingham flights".
  15. 1 2 "Jet2 adds Samos to summer 2026 Greece programme".
  16. ↑ "Greece Mission in Jerusalem for Holy Fire Ceremony". 11 April 2026. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "Flight". apollo.se.
  18. ↑ "Flight". apollo.no.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "SKY express, Olympic Air Get Contracts for Remote Greek Destination Air Routes". 21 August 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Sky Express: Ποιες πτήσεις τροποποιούνται και ποιες ακυρώνονται αύριο | LiFO" (in Greek). 7 October 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  21. ↑ Nath, Kanchan (3 April 2024). "TUI UK bolsters summer 2025 flying programme with focus on choice and flexibility".
  22. ↑ "Airlines and Flights to Lesbos, Greece | Aeolian Village". 6 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "Τουριστική προβολή Σάμου – νησιών Β. Αιγαίου στο Βέλγιο - Samos Voice" (in Greek). 9 April 2026. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Samos Island's Culinary Delights Impress Dutch Market". 5 April 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Samos Airport Aristarchos of Samos". ypa.gr.
  26. ↑ https://www.smi-airport.gr/en/smi/air-traffic-statistics
  27. ↑ "Traffic by Country_2022_SMI" (PDF). smi-airport.g. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  28. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Shorts 330-200 SX-BGE Samos Airport (SMI)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
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