ONE Greek island is set to close its only airport for up to four months with all flights cancelled from tomorrow until March.
Chios Airport is preparing to suspend operations for extensive works to get it ready for summer 2027.
This work includes extending the runway and upgrading facilities so that the island will be ready for the tourist season, according to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).
Currently, the runway is short at 1,511 metres long which means that wide- bodied aircraft used for long-haul journeys cannot land here.
Instead, the island only takes smaller propeller planes or narrow-body aircraft.
So anybody visiting from the UK would have to fly into Athens or Thessaloniki and take a connecting flight across.
However, the upgrades include extending the runway to be 1,799m long so it could accommodate larger planes.
There has been pushback however from authorities who have called the closure ‘economic strangulation’ for its residents.
The island is the fifth biggest in Greece and is home to around 50,000 people.
The worry is that the closure will affect the island’s economy and society particularly as it will close throughout Christmas and New Year.
If flights are unavailable it will restrict those with planned trips and travels to and from the mainland or neighbouring islands.
During these four months, ferry will be the only way on and off the island with the fastest sailing to Athens taking seven hours which is much slower than the 50-minute flight.
President of the Chios chamber of commerce Pantelis Legatos added : “Chios, as a border island 5 miles from Turkey, depends on the air connection with the capital for health, entertainment and freedom reasons.”
During the works, emergency flights will still be permitted to land, which includes medical evacuations, search and rescue.
Another alternative has been suggested that if the airport does close, it will reopen during the holiday season pushing the work back to a completion date of Easter.
The original plan was to close the airport on January 15 which is months later than the current schedule, but would avoid seasonal disruption.