Kefalonia International Airport

Kefalonia Airport "Anna Pollatou"
Αερολιμένας Κεφαλονιάς "Άννα Πολλάτου"
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGreek state
OperatorFraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture
ServesCephalonia, Greece
LocationArgostoli
Elevation AMSL59 ft / 18 m
Coordinates38°07′12″N 020°30′01″E / 38.12000°N 20.50028°E / 38.12000; 20.50028
Websiteefl-airport.gr
Map
EFL is located in Greece
EFL
EFL
Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 2,436 7,992 Asphalt
Statistics (2024)
Passengers872,536
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 1.4%
Aircraft movements7,998
Aircraft movements changeDecrease 1.4%
Sources:Fraport Greece,[1] DAFIF[2][3]

Kefalonia Airport "Anna Pollatou" (IATA: EFL, ICAO: LGKF) is an airport on the island of Cephalonia, in Greece. It is located in the southwest of the island, 8 km away from the capital Argostoli.[4]

History

The airport opened in 1971 to serve the former municipality Leivatho with improved transportation links; Kefalonia is now a single municipality. A new runway and the current terminal building were constructed in the 1980s.[5]

In December 2015, the privatization of Kefalonia Airport and 13 other regional airports of Greece was finalized with the signing of the agreement between the Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatisation fund.[6] "We signed the deal today," the head of Greece's privatisation agency Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters.[7] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Kefallinia International Airport) for 40 years as of April 2017.

The new operator completed a major upgrade of the airport's facilities, including constructing a new terminal building that replaced the outdated existing one. Upgrades included new check-in desks and security lanes, larger airside space with more shops, new carousels for arrivals and extra car-hire companies. Work has also been completed on the car park and pick-up/drop-off points outside the terminal building.[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many flights to the airport were suspended for 2020, although flights from Europe are gradually restarting.[9][10]

Airlines and destinations

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

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens[11]
Air Serbia Seasonal charter: Belgrade[12]
Animawings Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni,[13]Timișoara (begins 4 June 2026)[14]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna[15]
British Airways Seasonal: London–Heathrow[16]
Condor Seasonal: Munich[17]
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt,[18] Munich[19]
easyJet Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[20] Manchester,[20] Milan–Malpensa,[21] Naples,[22] Nice[23]
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zurich (begins 6 June 2026)[24]
ITA Airways Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[25]
Jet2.com Seasonal: Birmingham,[26] Bristol,[27] East Midlands,[28] Edinburgh (begins 3 May 2026),[29] Glasgow,[30] Leeds/Bradford,[31] London–Gatwick (begins 1 May 2026),[32] London–Stansted,[33] Manchester,[34] Newcastle upon Tyne[35]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Oslo[36]
People's Seasonal: St. Gallen/Altenrhein[37]
Ryanair Seasonal: Bergamo,[21] London–Stansted,[21] Pisa,[21] Rome–Fiumicino,[38] Vienna[21]
SkyAlps Seasonal: Bolzano[39]
Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[40]
Sky Express Athens, Corfu,[41] Preveza/Lefkada,[41] Zakynthos[41]
Smartwings Seasonal: Prague[42]
Seasonal charter: Budapest[43]
Sundor Seasonal: Tel Aviv[44]
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam,[45] Paris–Orly[46]
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham,[47] Bournemouth,[48] Bristol,[49] Cardiff,[50] East Midlands,[47] London–Gatwick,[51] London–Stansted,[52] Manchester,[47] Newcastle upon Tyne[53]
TUI fly Netherlands Seasonal: Amsterdam[54]
Volotea Seasonal: Bari,[55] Naples[56]
Wizz Air Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni (begins 9 June 2026),[57] Budapest (begins 9 June 2026),[58] Rome–Fiumicino (begins 29 June 2026)[59]

Traffic figures

The data is taken from the official website of the airport.[60]

Year Passengers
Domestic International Total
2009 69,130 287,759 356,889
2010 Decrease56,144 Increase299,824 Decrease355,968
2011 Increase48,309 Decrease298,088 Decrease346,397
2012 Increase40,984 Increase337,543 Increase378,527
2013 Decrease33,699 Increase396,663 Increase430,362
2014 Increase58,443 Increase420,989 Increase479,432
2015 Decrease55,915 Increase436,587 Increase492,502
2016 Increase69,956 Increase468,243 Increase538,199
2017 Increase82,058 Increase547,613 Increase629,671
2018 Increase97,622 Increase664,025 Increase761,647
2019 Increase100,958 Increase673,212 Increase774,170
2020 Decrease33,762 Decrease158,715 Decrease192,477
2021 Increase62,874 Increase240,464 Increase303,338
2022 Increase95,971 Increase721,245 Increase817,216
2023 Increase114,155 Increase746,378 Increase860,533
2024[61] Increase116,607 Increase755,929 Increase872,536
2025 Increase124,382 Increase769,315 Increase893,697

Traffic statistics by country (2024)

Traffic by country at Kefalonia International Airport – 2024[61]
Place Country Total pax
1 United Kingdom United Kingdom 481.860
2 Greece Greece 116.607
3 Italy Italy 94.848
4 Netherlands Netherlands 41.335
5 Austria Austria 27.968
6 Czech Republic Czech Republic 20.789
7 Poland Poland 18.990
8 Germany Germany 14.688
9 Israel Israel 13.476
10 France France 9.361
11 Serbia Serbia 5.823
12 Slovakia Slovakia 5.480
13 Hungary Hungary 5.053
14 Romania Romania 4.718
15 Slovenia Slovenia 3.520

Ground transport

KTEL runs a limited bus service between the airport and Argostoli.[62]

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Airport information for LGKF". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Data current as of October 2006.
  3. ^ Airport information for EFL at Great Circle Mapper.
  4. ^ "Kefalonia airport information". hcaa-eleng.gr.
  5. ^ "Kefalonia Airport (EFL) - Welcome to Kefalonia". Kefalonia Airport. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Tornos News | Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport". Tornosnews.gr. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  7. ^ "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport". Uk.reuters.com. 14 December 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Kefalonia The new terminal is open - View the photos - The Kefalonia Pulse". The Kefalonia Pulse. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Anxiety about 6,500 airport tests - Results in the next few hours - The Kefalonia Pulse". The Kefalonia Pulse. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  10. ^ "12 arrests at Kefalonia airport last week - The Kefalonia Pulse". The Kefalonia Pulse. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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  15. ^ "Vienna, Austria". OAG Flight Guide Worldwide. 25 (2). Luton, United Kingdom: OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited: 1117–1123. August 2023. ISSN 1466-8718.
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  29. ^ "Jet2 'to launch raft of new routes' for summer '26".
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  35. ^ "Newcastle, UK". OAG Flight Guide Worldwide. 25 (2). Luton, United Kingdom: OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited: 748–750. August 2023. ISSN 1466-8718.
  36. ^ "Oslo, Norway". OAG Flight Guide Worldwide. 25 (2). Luton, United Kingdom: OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited: 807–814. August 2023. ISSN 1466-8718.
  37. ^ "Peoples fliegt charterflüge ab Salzburg - Austrian Aviation Net". www.austrianaviation.net. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  38. ^ "Google". 25 November 2021.
  39. ^ Liu, Jim (19 November 2024). "SkyAlps NS25 Network Additions". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
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  42. ^ "Prague, Czech Republic". OAG Flight Guide Worldwide. 25 (2). Luton, United Kingdom: OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited: 877–880. August 2023. ISSN 1466-8718.
  43. ^ "Destinations". www.efl-airport.gr.
  44. ^ "Sun d'Or NS24 Greece Network Additions". AeroRoutes. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  45. ^ Liu, Jim (25 September 2023). "Transavia NS24 A321neo General Network Overview – 24SEP23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
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  48. ^ "Airline's second aircraft lands at airport as it doubles summer programme". 24 May 2024.
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