grflights.com Araxos Airport
grflights.com Araxos Airport

Guide to Araxos Airport

Araxos Airport (GPA) is the airport for Patras and the western Peloponnese, 45 km west of the city on the coast near Kato Achaia. It is a Hellenic Air Force base with a small civil terminal on one side, open in summer only: charters and low-cost flights from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Scandinavia bring holidaymakers to the Kalogria and Kyllini coast, the Ionian resorts and Olympia.

Traffic is a few flights a day between May and October and nothing scheduled in winter; there are no domestic flights, as Patras is under three hours from Athens by motorway. The runway is shared with the air force, so photography on the apron is prohibited.

Transport

Patras is 45 km east, about 45 minutes and €60 by taxi. The Kalogria resorts are 15 minutes and about €20; Kyllini port for Zakynthos and Kefalonia about €45. There is no bus from the terminal.

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Parking

A car park at the civil terminal, from about €2 an hour or €8 a day, open in the summer season. Most passengers arrive by coach or hire car, so it is seldom full.

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Car rental

Rental firms meet the summer flights with desks at the terminal. With no bus and 45 km to Patras, a car is the practical way out of Araxos and the only way to see Olympia, the Ionian coast and the mountains of Achaea in a week.

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Local tips

  • Arrange transport before you land. There is no bus, the taxi rank empties fast, and Patras is 45 km away.
  • The civil terminal is on a military base: no photographs of the runway or apron, and keep to the signed road.
  • Facilities are basic: one café, limited seating, and a departure hall that fills when two flights leave together. Two hours before departure is enough; there is nothing to do with a third.
  • Zakynthos and Kefalonia are an hour away by road and ferry from Kyllini; for the Ionian islands in low season, an Araxos charter plus the ferry can beat the island airports’ thin schedules.

See also

Prices and timetables are indicative and change seasonally. Confirm before you travel.