Thessaloniki Airport: operating hours, how to get from the city to the airport, to the city from the airport. Thessaloniki Airport: operating hours, how to get from the city to the airport, to the city from the airport Greece airport Macedonia
If you are flying to one of the resorts of the Greek trident - the Chalkidiki region, then you will definitely need information on how to get from Thessaloniki airport to the center of Thessaloniki and the main Greek beach resorts: Nea Kallikratia, Nea Potidea, Sani, Neos Marmaras and others.
Before traveling to Thessaloniki, write down the exact address of your hotel or apartment in Thessaloniki, download a city map and a public transport map to your smartphone.
Brief information about the airport in Thessaloniki
Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki is located 17 km south of. It is the main airport in northern Greece and is a hub for the following airlines: Aegean Airlines, Astra Airlines, Ellinair and the low-cost airline Ryanair.
From Russia, regular direct flights to Thessaloniki fly from Moscow. The cost of an air ticket from Moscow to Thessaloniki for a regular flight is 150 Euros in two directions, and the travel time is just over 3 hours. In summer, charter flights from dozens of Russian cities are added to regular flights. From Ukraine, a regular flight to Thessaloniki flies from Kyiv. An air ticket Kyiv – Thessaloniki will cost you 100 Euros in two directions, travel time is 2 hours 15 minutes.
Thessaloniki Airport Terminal
Thessaloniki Airport has only one terminal of three floors. The first floor is the arrivals hall, divided into two sections: for international flights/flights outside the Schengen area and for domestic flights/flights from the Schengen area. The second floor is the departure hall, where there are also retail areas and bars. There are many ATMs on this floor. On the top floor there are 2 restaurants and several bars overlooking the runways. Below you can see a map of the airport in Thessaloniki.
At Thessaloniki airport you can buy traditional Greek products, cigarettes, jewelry, and clothing. You can also pack your luggage here.
A few kilometers from the airport there are hotels Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki at a price of 122 Euros per day for a double room and Hotel Nikopolis at a price of 98 Euros per night for a double room.
How to get from Thessaloniki airport to the city center?
There are three ways to get from Thessaloniki airport to the city center or to Greek resorts: by city buses with transfers, by taxi or by rented car. Let's look at each of these methods in more detail.
Bus from Thessaloniki Airport to the city center
Buses from Thessaloniki Airport are usually new and air-conditioned, but very often overcrowded. The buses are operated by the transport company O.A.S.TH.
There are direct buses from Macedonia Airport to the center of Thessaloniki. You won’t be able to get from Macedonia Airport to the Greek resorts in Halkidiki by direct bus: you will need to change at a bus station located on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Between the airport and the KTEL Halkidiki bus station in Thessaloniki, city buses No. 78, No. 78A and No. 78N run through the city center. Bus station address:ΚΤΕΛ ΧΑΛΚΙΔΙΚΗΣ A, Pilea 555 35.
- Bus route No. 78 runs twice an hour during the daytime - from 05:00 to 22:00 from the airport to KTEL station and from 05:50 to 23:00 from KTEL station to Thessaloniki airport.
- Bus route No. 78N runs in the evening and at night. The route runs every half hour from 23:30 to 05:30 from the airport to KTEL station and from 22:30 to 04:30 from KTEL station to Thessaloniki airport.
- Bus route No. 78A departs only once a day at 05:00 in the direction from the KTEL bus station to Thessaloniki airport.
The total travel time from the airport to the center of Thessaloniki is approximately 30-40 minutes. Tickets can be purchased from a vending machine on the bus. Please note that the machine does not give change. The cost of a ticket for one trip from Thessaloniki Airport for an adult is 2 Euros, for students and pensioners – 1 Euro, for children under 6 years of age the journey is free. The ticket must be validated, otherwise it will be invalid in the yellow composter.
Along the route of buses from the airport, you can get off in the city center - at Aristotle Square(Platia Aristotelous) and on Thessaloniko main railway station in (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos).
Bus from Thessaloniki airport to Greek resorts in Halkidiki
If your destination is not the center of Thessaloniki, but another Greek resort town, then you will need to take a bus to the KTEL bus station in Thessaloniki and change there to a bus to your resort in Halkidiki. Find out the number of your bus and its schedule at the ticket office at the KTEL bus station, where you can immediately buy a ticket. You can check the bus schedule to your resort in advance on the KTEL Chakidikis bus station website.
At the same time, you don’t have to drive through the city center on route No. 78 and make loops. In this case, you will need to take bus No. 79 at the airport and take it to the A. S. IKEA stop (Anatolikos Stathmos IKEA), then transfer to bus No. 36/36A/36B to the KTEL Chalkidikis stop. Travel on buses on this route will cost you 1 Euro for an adult and 0.5 Euro for a child.
Greek resorts on the trident of Halkidiki are spread across its three “fingers”: the peninsulas of Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos. If your resort is located on the closest “finger” to Thessaloniki - Kassandra, you want to save money, and you are not bothered by bus delays of an hour, then it makes sense to travel to your resort by bus. If you are traveling with children, and you need to go to the “fingers” far from Thessaloniki - Sithonia or Athos, I recommend ordering a taxi transfer.
I have given the distance to the main Greek resorts and the cost of travel to them from the KTEL bus station one way in the table below.
Please note that many buses, especially long-distance buses, operate only a few times a day, so it is best to check the website in advance for schedules. Prices can also change, as happened in the summer of 2016 due to an increase in the VAT rate.
Bus from Thessaloniki Airport to other cities in Greece
If your destination is not on the Halkidiki peninsula, then to travel to another Greek city from Thessaloniki (for example, Athens, Larissa, Lefkada) by bus you will need to travel from Thessaloniki airport to Thessaloniki central bus station (not to be confused with the bus stationKTEL Chalkidikis!).
Thessaloniki Central Bus Station – Macedonia Intercity Bus Station (KTEL Macedonia)– located at Giannitson 244, Thessaloniki 546 28. Buses also depart from this bus station to other countries: Bulgaria (Sofia, Bansko), Turkey (Istanbul), Macedonia (Skopje), Czech Republic and even Germany. You can learn more about the available international bus routes and see their prices on the official website of the Macedonia bus station, available in English.
The KTEL Macedonia bus station is located 2.5 km from the main railway station in Thessaloniki (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos), where routes No. 78 and No. 78N stop.
How and where to buy a bus ticket at Thessaloniki airport?
The national currency of Greece is the Euro. As I already said, bus tickets are sold in special machines inside the buses. The machine on the bus does not give change, so have small coins ready.
In Thessaloniki itself, bus tickets can also be purchased at ticket offices at bus stops.
Taxi from Thessaloniki airport
The taxi rank at Thessaloniki Airport is located at the exit from the arrivals area. Depending on traffic conditions, the journey from the airport to the center of Thessaloniki will take you 35-40 minutes.
Some features of taxis in Greece:
- When traveling at night (from 00:00 to 05:00), taxi fares increase by 30%.
- The driver must turn on the meter. Keep an eye on this when getting into a taxi.
- Payment in a taxi is only possible in cash, which you should stock up on in advance.
- According to Greek law, one taxi car can transport a maximum of 4 people at a time, including children.
- Greek taxi drivers do not know English or know it very poorly, so write down the exact address of your destination in Greek on a piece of paper in advance.
How to get to Thessaloniki Airport
When traveling from the center of Thessaloniki to the airport, depending on the time of day, you will need to take bus No. 78 or No. 78N and get to the Airport Macedonia stop. You can take this bus at the stop at Aristotle Square, the main railway station of Thessaloniki, or at the KTEL Chalkidikis bus station.
When traveling to Thessaloniki airport from a Greek beach resort, it will be most convenient to order a taxi transfer, otherwise you will first have to go from your hotel to the bus station in your city, then go to the KTEL Chalkidikis bus station, and then wait for a bus to the airport.
The easiest way to get to the Halkidiki peninsula is through Thessaloniki airport. A large and modern air hub, Thessaloniki Airport is one of the best in Greece. Grekoblog already wrote partially about how to get from Thessaloniki airport to your destination in an article. But we decided to return to the topic and dwell on the issue of transport in more detail.
A little history
The official name of the international airport, located 13 km southeast of the northern capital of Greece, is Macedonia (international code SKG), but until 1993 it was called Thessaloniki Mikra Airport in honor of a small village that later became one of the suburbs of the regional capital.
Thessaloniki airport began operating in 1930 as a military airfield. After World War II, in 1948, the needs of civil aviation began to be served at its base. Until 1965, the infrastructure was expanded and modernized, but due to the constant increase in passenger traffic and the growth of the city itself, the air terminal was eventually moved to a new location.
Macedonia Airport serves approximately 4 million passengers per year
The last modernization of Thessaloniki Airport was carried out in 2004-2006. Today, Thessaloniki Airport has modern passenger and cargo terminals, as well as two runways - 2440 and 2410 m, respectively.
Not only civilian but also military aircraft are based at Thessaloniki Airport. There is a flying club and parking for private light aircraft.
Macedonia Airport operates 24 hours a day and serves up to 4 million passengers annually. The management company plans to further expand the terminals and improve the runway, which will make it possible to receive and dispatch transcontinental flights and increase passenger traffic to 7-9 million people per year.
Airport and Thessaloniki on the map:
Cheap flights to Thessaloniki
If you are not yet familiar with metasearch engines for air tickets, with the help of which it is easy to select cheap and convenient air flights, then we recommend our articles and. If you’re too lazy to read and you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, you can quickly search for available flights using the form below:
How to get from Thessaloniki Airport to the main cities of Greece
In order to get from Macedonia Airport (Thessaloniki) by bus to the main cities of mainland Greece, you should head to the main bus station of the region (Macedonia intercity bus station). Thus, the trip from Thessaloniki Airport will consist of 2 parts:
- OASTH bus No. X1 (N1 - night), going straight from the terminal through the city center to the Macedonia intercity bus station.
- Transfer at the bus station to a bus going to your desired destination in mainland Greece.
Route No. X1 operates from 6:10 to 22:35, the interval is 15-20 minutes. Night bus No. 78N, respectively, from 23:30 to 5:30, departing from the stop at the terminal every half hour. On Sundays and holidays, you will have to wait 10-15 minutes longer for transport. Travel time with all stops is about 40 minutes, the fare (as of 2018) is €2.
You can get to the main cities from the main bus station
From Thessaloniki Airport to Halkidiki Peninsula
If the goal is not Athens or Corfu, but a hotel located directly on the Chalkidiki peninsula, then you should follow a different route:
1. Take bus from Thessaloniki Airport No. 79A to KTEL Halkidikis bus station. The schedule of route No. 79A can be found on the OASTH website
2. At the KTEL Halkidikis bus station, select the desired route, purchase a ticket and take a seat on the bus. The route schedule and ticket prices can be found on the official website of the operator KTEL Halkidikis.
Taxi and airport transfer
As a rule, the bus is the most profitable option for travelers planning to get to their hotel, wherever it is. But, being burdened with luggage or a large family, it is easier to take a taxi. Moreover, taxis in Thessaloniki are inexpensive.
From Thessaloniki to Halkidiki you can get from the KTEL Halkidikis bus station
A taxi from Thessaloniki Airport, which stands at the exit from the terminal, can be taken into the city or even to the door of a hotel in a remote mountain village. A trip to the bus station will cost about €30 (2018), with a double fare charged at night. The cost of a taxi to another city or resort will be calculated at a higher intercity rate.
You can order a taxi from Thessaloniki Airport in advance - before the arrival of your flight. In this case, the driver will be waiting for you with a sign with your name on it at the exit from the baggage claim area.
Ordering a car online is especially convenient for two reasons. Firstly, the fare is calculated by the system and known in advance, and if the flight is delayed you will not have to pay extra. And secondly, you can order a car directly at Thessaloniki airport to suit your personal needs. For example, with a large trunk or pre-installed child seats.
Grekoblog wrote in detail about this service in a separate article: Taxi in Greece and Cyprus: how to order online directly to the airport. Well, if you’re too lazy to read the details, you can figure out the system yourself: it’s intuitive and has recently been available with a Russian-language interface. Place an order.
Another taxi service from the airport
When Grekoblog was preparing an article about ways to get from Macedonia Airport to the desired point in the vicinity of Thessaloniki, there were no worthy alternative online taxi services in Greece.
But since 2013, such a service has appeared. Now you can order a transfer from the airport to the hotel using the KiwiTaxi service, captivating with its modern design, the presence of a full-fledged Russian version and Russian-language support.
As for the tariffs, there is a screenshot with the prices of the most popular destinations above. But we would recommend checking the rates separately before traveling. You can do this using this link.
Car rental at Macedonia Airport (Thessaloniki)
Finally, you can get to your hotel by rented car. The relevant companies are represented quite widely at the airport.
You can get from the airport to any point by rented car.
To avoid overpayments, it makes sense to use the automatic price comparison system for car rental companies, developed by the team of the famous hotel portal Booking.com. The system not only tracks prices online at all major car rental companies, but also allows you to book a car in advance. This comes in handy during the high season, when cars from car rental companies sell like hot cakes.
Thessaloniki is a Greek city second only to Athens in importance. This is a popular destination in Northern Greece for sightseeing, beach and pilgrimage tourism. In addition, Thessaloniki is a popular choice for weekend trips and shopping. The local airport is an important transport hub in the region with impressive passenger traffic. It welcomes everyone who flies to the resorts of the Chalkidiki peninsula, Pieria and Thassos.
History of Thessaloniki Airport
The international airport is located 15 km from the city of Thessaloniki, near the Kalamaria district. Since 1993, it bears the name of the historical region - “Macedonia” (previously called “Mikra”). The airport began its work during the German occupation, when it was decided to build a 600-meter runway for military needs. In 1948, Macedonia became a civil airport, and only in 1952 the construction of the airport building was completed.
In all subsequent years, work was carried out to rebuild and modernize the runways, construct the second floor of the building, and expand the terminal. When Thessaloniki was chosen as the 1997 European Capital of Culture, Macedonia Airport underwent a number of major renovations. Between 2000 and 2006, the airport received an expanded departure area, lounges and a new highway. In 2017, a new major reconstruction of Thessaloniki airport began, associated with its transfer to the management of the German concern Fraport.
Today, Macedonia Airport connects Thessaloniki and the whole of Northern Greece with direct connections to Russia, Great Britain, Turkey, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Italy. The airport receives flights from Turkish Airlines, Aegean, Ellinair, Alitalia, Aeroflot. From Macedonia you can reach many regions of Greece without transfers: Crete, Santorini, Athens, Chios, Corfu, Kalamata, Kos, Zakynthos, Samos.
Flights to Thessaloniki International Airport
Infrastructure of Macedonia Airport
Despite belonging to the second largest city in Greece, the airport is compact in size. It has only one terminal, which receives more than 5 million passengers annually, and two 2,500-meter runways. On a small area of the airport there are waiting rooms, including VIP, there are parking lots with 1,500 spaces, an information desk and points for packing luggage. Information, including the arrivals and departures board, is available on the Thessaloniki airport website.
“Macedonia” has a cafe, a restaurant, ATMs, a pharmacy, and a storage room. There are Duty Free shops where you can buy perfumes, watches, traditional Greek drinks and products, souvenirs, cosmetics, and olive oil. Important feature: you must go through the duty-free zone before passport control.
Those wishing to spend time in comfortable conditions can stay in one of the nearby hotels. 5 minutes from the airport there is a budget hotel Ambassador with excellent service.
How to get to/from Thessaloniki Airport
You can get to or from the airport by bus, which runs to Thessaloniki bus station. The main route is No. 78 with a service interval of 30 minutes. The cost is approximately 1 euro. The bus will take you to KTEL Macedonia in 40 minutes, and from here you can change to a bus to the desired city or stay in Thessaloniki. A taxi ride will cost more. The cost of a trip from the terminal to the city center is approximately 20 euros.
To get to the resorts of Halkidiki (the main goal of most tourists), you first need to take route No. 79 to IKEA. Then transfer to bus number 36, which goes to KTEL Halkidikis station. From here buses run to the villages of the Halkidiki peninsula.
Those who arrived in Macedonia and chose Thassos for their vacation will have a difficult journey ahead. First you need to get to Thessaloniki, then take a bus to Kavala. From Kavala, take the route to Keramoti, and then take the ferry to Thassos. It will be much more profitable to rent a car directly in Macedonia for subsequent travel to Thassos.
Order a taxi/transfer from Thessaloniki airport
The most comfortable way to get to Thessaloniki from the airport is to book a transfer in advance. Pre-order will solve many problems: the driver will meet you and help you load your luggage, he will be aware of your route, the cost will be lower than a taxi at the airport. In addition, the kiwitaxi.ru service has a large selection of cars, both in price and cost.
Cost of transfer from Thessaloniki Airport "Macedonia":
