ONE island in Greece is scheduled to close its only airport for four months for major work to its runway.
Chios Airport is set to suspend all flights from November 15 until March 15 2027.
The island is the fifth biggest in Greece with around 50,000 residents – but it is set to be shut off to visitors for four months.
Work includes extending and upgrading to be ready for the tourist season next summer, according to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).
Currently the runway is short at 1,511 meters long which means that wide bodied aircraft cannot land here.
It only takes smaller propeller planes or narrow-body aircraft.
So to get to the island, tourists including Brits, need to fly to Athens or Thessaloniki before taking a smaller connecting plane over to the island.
However, this is set to change as work on the runway will see it extended to be 1,799m long which means that it will be able to accommodate much larger types of aircraft.
During the works, emergency flights will be permitted to land, which includes medical evacuations, search and rescue.
However, there is some opposition to the plans.
President of the Chios chamber of commerce Pantelis Legatos said: “The early closure will seriously affect the economy and society of the island, especially during the holiday season (Christmas, New Year), when people have planned trips, family visits and medical appointments.
“Chios, as a border island 5 miles from Turkey, depends on the air connection with the capital for health, entertainment and freedom reasons.”
The original plan was to close the airport on January 15 which is months later than the current schedule.