Skiathos Alexandros Papadiamantis International Airport,
Greece, September 2024
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Skiathos is a peaceful, beautiful little island 80 miles north-west of Athens. It has its own international airport in a very restricted space just north of the main town, which is imaginatively named Skiathos. The runway is short, sloping considerably, with a short flat area freshly built at the north end. With no parallel taxiways, there are turning circles at both ends, and back-tracking is the order of the day for most landings and all take-offs. Most operations use runway 01, so take-offs involve tracking down the runway from the centrally-situated terminal area before making a 180 turn. At each end of the runway there is a road, a bit of beach, and then the Aegean sea. Because of this, all landings are 'positive' and undercarriage damage is fairly common. Indeed a Sunclass Airlines A321, OY-TCG, overstressed its undercarriage so badly during landing on 15th September that it was still stranded there during our visit, which was from the 23rd to 30th September. (I couldn't get any decent photos of it). The southern turning circle is VERY close to the road and the sea, and is an aircraft spotter's paradise – the aircraft are close and do a pirouette so that they can be photographed at all angles. Lots of waving between pilots, spectators and passengers occurs. There's also a very handy cafe right there, offering, in order of importance, shade, beer and food. There's time to enjoy it because, with ramp space for only five or six airliners, there are relatively few operations, maybe averaging three an hour during high season. It's a lovely experience, like a sleepy Saint Maarten, to which it's often compared. Just don't get caught in the jet blast. I guess all pilots apply full power on take-off – we saw one man getting hurled into the sea, and there are jagged rocks around… I've put photos of airport-related subjects below the aircraft photos. Click here for them. |
| Operator | Aircraft | Reg'n | Thumbs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avanti Air | Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 | D-AASG |
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Ex G-JEDR |
| easyJet | Airbus A320neo | G-UJEB |
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| easyjet | Airbus A320neo | G-UZLX |
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NEO livery |
| Flying Group | Cessna 525B CitationJet 3+ | LX-FYG |
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| Greek Air Force | Canadair CL-215 pair | 1067 and 1069 |
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Just flying over. |
| Greek Air Force | Canadair CL-215 | 1067 |
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| Greek Air Force | Canadair CL-215 | 1069 |
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| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-DRTX |
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Ex TC-SCG |
| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-JZBA |
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Our ride back to Manchester. |
| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-JZBC |
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Jet2holidays livery |
| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-JZBG |
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Jet2holidays livery. The traffic lights are the only ones on the island. |
| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-JZHK |
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Jet2holidays livery. Our ride from Manchester. |
| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-JZHN |
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Jet2holidays livery |
| Jet2 | Boeing 737-800/W | G-JZHO |
| 'HO visited on two consecutive days. On the second day, Olympic Air ATR SX-OBT had just landed and was turning at the north circle when 'HO emerged from the apron for take-off, leading to dual-occupancy of the runway for a while. |
| Jetstream Charter | Cessna 650 Citation III | HA-JEO |
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| Olympic Air | ATR-72-600 | SX-OBI |
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Ex EI-FMJ |
| Olympic Air | ATR-72-600 | SX-OBM |
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Ex VH-FVR |
| Olympic Air | ATR-72-600 | SX-OBP |
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Ex PR-ATJ, OY-YCO |
| Olympic Air | ATR-72-600 | SX-OBR |
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Ex EI-FAX |
| Olympic Air | ATR-72-600 | SX-OBT |
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| Ryanair (Buzz) | Boeing 737-800/W | SP-RKQ |
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RKQ ex EI-GDI 1.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RKQ ex EI-GDI 6.jpg) |
Ex EI-GDI |
| Ryanair (Buzz) | Boeing 737-800/W | SP-RKT |
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RKT ex EI-GDH 02.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RKT ex EI-GDH 07.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RKT ex EI-GDH 10.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RKT ex EI-GDH 15.jpg) |
Ex EI-GDH |
| Ryanair (Buzz) | Boeing 737-800/W | SP-RSM |
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSM ex EI-FZX 03.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSM ex EI-FZX 05.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSM ex EI-FZX 09.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSM ex EI-FZX 10.jpg) |
Ex EI-FZX |
| Ryanair (Buzz) | Boeing 737-800/W | SP-RSR |
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSR ex EI-GDB 03.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSR ex EI-GDB 04.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w SP-RSR ex EI-GDB 05.jpg) |
Ex EI-GDB |
| Ryanair (Malta Air) | Boeing 737-800/W | 9H-QAU |
 Boeing 737-800-w 9H-QAU ex EI-GDC 06.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w 9H-QAU ex EI-GDC 09.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w 9H-QAU ex EI-GDC 10.jpg)
 Boeing 737-800-w 9H-QAU ex EI-GDC 13.jpg) |
Ex EI-GDC. |
| SAS | Airbus A320neo | LN-RGN |
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Scandinavian Airlines livery |
| SAS | Airbus A320neo | SE-ROF |
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Scandinavian Airlines livery |
| SAS | Airbus A320neo | SE-RZZ |
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| Sky Express | ATR-72-600 | SX-IPO |
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| Sky Express | ATR-72-600 | SX-TFI |
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| Sky Helicópteros | Cessna 560 Citation Ultra | EC-JFT |
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| TUI Airways | Boeing 737-800/W | G-TAWC |
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| TUI Airways | Boeing 737-800/W | G-TAWW |
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Ex D-ATUQ |
| TUI Airways | Boeing 737-800/W | G-TUKV |
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Ex PH-TFB, OO-TNB |
| TUI Airways | Boeing 737 Max 8 | G-TUMU |
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Airport etc.
| Subject | Thumbs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Runway |
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Showing the slope from the south and the top level part from the north turning circle. |
| Control tower |
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| Terminal 2 (International) |
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| Southern turning circle |
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View from our 737 showing the proximity of the spectators, road and sea. |
| Warning signs |
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Two views of the same three signs. |
| Cafe Amaretto menu |
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