In public works, words carry weight. «We requested it» does not mean «we secured it,» «it is being promoted» does not mean «it is being put out to bid,» and a feasibility study is not a final design. Nor does the allocation of a budget amount to a funded project, nor does a unanimous political decision amount to a construction contract. When all of these are presented as if they were the same thing, the information creates expectations, and those expectations, when repeatedly dashed, lead to distrust.
The expansion of the runway at the «Alexandros Aristotelos Onassis» State Airport of Kythira is perhaps the most striking example. It is a critical piece of infrastructure for the island, which has been moving from one agency to another for the past twelve years, it runs into new obstacles, restarts, and is accompanied by a series of public assurances. The result, however, remains the same: on the official aeronautical chart that took effect on June 11, 2026, Runway 02/20 is still listed as 1,461 meters long and 30 meters wide.
No one disputes that the project is necessary. The local community, business leaders, and all municipal political parties have repeatedly expressed their support for it. The real question is how a project that in 2018 was presented as «well underway» has, six years later, come to be described by the mayor himself as a matter that has been put «on the back burner» and, by the end of 2025, as an issue that remains «in the realm of promises.».
The story did not begin in 2014. According to the official history published by the Municipality of Kythira on December 21, 2017, a technical report had been issued in 2010. The Region of Attica had also agreed, at the request of the previous municipal administration, to provide 35,000 euros in funding for the feasibility study and 400,000 euros for the complete technical and financial studies and the bidding documents. In November 2014, a public notice was posted regarding the 235-stremma plot of land associated with the proposed expansion, and in March 2015, The Regional Legal Service ruled that the area in question should be managed by the Local Property Authority.
These were indeed useful steps. However, they did not include final designs, environmental permits, construction funding, or a project tender. In September 2015, the Municipality announced that the feasibility study, with a budget of 35,000 euros, would «begin immediately,» provided that the relevant programmatic agreement was first approved by the Regional Council. The contract with the contractor was finally signed on December 19, 2017, following the unsuccessful 2016 bidding process, changes to the institutional framework for public procurement, and the 2017 re-tender. The Municipality itself had then correctly described it as a «first, substantial, and real step,» with a contractual deadline of twelve weeks.
The key word was «first.» The problem began when this first step started to be presented as if the entire path had already been mapped out.
On May 3, 2018, the interim results of the feasibility study were presented. The technical proposal called for a runway with a total length of 1,800 meters—1,920 meters including the additional sections—as the maximum technically feasible solution, according to the engineers. The same announcement stated that the feasibility study would be followed by the full technical studies, for which a budget of 400,000 euros had been allocated. The study was submitted by the Region to the Civil Aviation Authority on May 25, 2018, and was approved on March 7, 2019.
In the period between the submission and the approval, the phrase that would come to define the case was uttered. In a public post by the «New Day» political faction on Facebook on August 7, 2018, the expansion was described as a project «that is already underway.» At that time, a feasibility study had been submitted for approval. There were no approved final designs, bidding documents, a completed environmental review, secured construction funding, a competitive bidding process, or a project contract. Administratively, the project was still in its early stages of development. In terms of public communication, however, it appeared as though it had already set an irreversible course.
This difference is not a mere detail. It is a matter of accountability. When a municipal authority presents an interim planning document as a sure path to construction, it also assumes the obligation to explain later exactly where the process came to a halt, who had the authority, which deadline was missed, and what it did to remove any obstacles.
In 2019, the tone became even more confident. On May 6, the campaign website of «New Day» listed the public bidding for the complete design studies as part of the «development of major infrastructure projects» and described the funding of 400,000 euros as secured. A few days later, in the mayor’s keynote speech on May 24, 2019, the completion of all studies was set, «based on the government’s timeline,» for 2022–2023.
The actual administrative situation was much more complicated. The Civil Aviation Authority’s approval of the feasibility study on March 7, 2019, was accompanied by a condition requiring an environmental permit prior to the commissioning of the final designs. The Municipality later characterized this condition as unenforceable and announced that it had requested its removal in letters dated February 24 and September 2, 2020.
This is where the fundamental institutional weakness of the project becomes apparent. A project involving so many stakeholders—the Civil Aviation Authority, the Ministry, the Regional Authority, the Municipality, the State Property Agency, and environmental authorities —never had a clear lead agency responsible for resolving outstanding issues one by one, convening the relevant parties, and establishing a common timeline. Responsibility was so widely dispersed that, in the end, no one was held accountable for the overall outcome. This explains a significant part of the delay, but it does not negate the previous public assurances. On the contrary, it shows that the timelines were announced before the necessary administrative coordination had been secured.
On September 20, 2021, during the event marking the airport’s 50th anniversary, the mayor attributed the delay to «absurd and inconceivable bureaucracy» and asked the HCAA administrator to revisit the issue «from scratch,» noting that the Regional Authority had committed 400,000 euros «years ago.» Two and a half years after the initial estimate that the studies would be completed in 2022–2023, reality itself necessitated a fresh start.
And yet, in July 2023, the political faction’s campaign website did not merely list the studies as pending issues. It stated that the municipal government had requested and was awaiting inclusion in the Recovery Fund for the expansion of the airport runway and terminal buildings, with a budget of 15 million euros. It was a long way from a 400,000-euro allocation for final design studies—which had not yet been commissioned—to the expectation of funding a 15-million-euro construction project. The public documentation reviewed contains no decision regarding inclusion in the Recovery Fund, nor had the technical and environmental maturity required to transform a policy initiative into a fundable project been established.
This is a familiar pattern in public discourse: the request is presented as anticipation of inclusion, the anticipation as virtually guaranteed funding, and the funding as a project. In administration, however, these are entirely different stages.
This brings us to July 11, 2024. Following a meeting with the Regional Governor of Attica, the Municipality announced that the issue «would be put on a new footing starting in the fall.« Five months later, on December 17, 2024, the mayor wrote officially to the Deputy Minister of Transportation stating that the completion of the necessary studies had been put »on the back burner.” In the same letter, he announced that the 400,000-euro allocation—which for years had been presented as guaranteed—had been completely removed from the Region’s 2025 budget.
This is the pivotal moment in the timeline. Funding for the studies did not simply disappear quietly into the distant past. It was cut after having served for years as a key argument in the narrative that the project was moving forward.
In February 2025, another condition was added. The Municipality announced that the Special Environmental Impact Assessment, as a prerequisite for subsequent studies, would have to be undertaken by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) and the relevant ministry, to which a new funding request had been submitted. Almost seven years after the phrase «it got off the ground,» we were still not discussing a contractor for the final designs, but rather who would undertake a prerequisite environmental study.
On June 30, 2025, the City Council discussed, as its first item, the case for expanding the runway. The decision was passed unanimously. It was a positive and necessary step, which our party actively supported. The unanimous vote clearly reflected the will of the local community, but it could not, on its own, make up for what was lacking. A City Council decision does not conduct a feasibility study, approve environmental conditions, secure funding, or issue a call for bids. Its value is determined by the specific actions it triggers among the relevant government agencies.
At the end of that same year, the report was revealing. On December 31, 2025, the Municipality announced that the expansion «remains at a standstill» and that, despite the approval of the feasibility study in 2019 and the renewal of the Environmental Permit (AEPO) for the existing facilities in 2023, it remains «in the realm of promises.» The same announcement notes that the Special Environmental Study for the Natura areas, which was approved on August 1, 2025, and is on its way to becoming a Presidential Decree, allows for the expansion and modernization of the airport in this specific zone based on the relevant studies.
This development is significant because it removes a land-use obstacle. However, we should not attribute more significance to it than it actually has. The permitted use indicated in an environmental study does not constitute a definitive technical study or a specific environmental permit for the project in question, nor does it secure funding or allow construction to begin. Moreover, the wording itself refers to the results of studies that have yet to be conducted.
To be fair, it’s not accurate to claim that «nothing was done» all these years. The management of the site was clarified, the feasibility study was commissioned and approved, the environmental permit for the existing facilities was renewed, the City Council issued a unanimous decision, and the possibility of expansion was included in the Special Environmental Study.
However, it is equally inaccurate to say that the project «is well underway.» As of the date this article was written, there is no publicly available documentation any call for bids or signed contract for the final design of the extension, approved construction bidding documents, a decision to include the project in a funding program, or a construction contract. Furthermore, the current official aeronautical chart continues to show the existing runway measuring 1,461 by 30 meters.
It must also be clearly stated that the Municipality is neither the owner nor the operator of the state-owned airport and, as it itself emphasized in 2020, it was not the entity that put the feasibility study out to bid. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA), the competent ministry, and the Regional Authority bear full and significant responsibility for the delays, the contradictory terms, and the cancellation of the funding.
This, however, does not absolve the municipal leadership of its own political responsibility. The municipal government is judged on the accuracy of its announcements, on whether it kept the issue high on the national agenda, on whether it secured the necessary funding in a timely manner, and on whether it organized the necessary partnerships. It is not acceptable to credit every intermediate step as a success and to attribute every impasse exclusively to third parties.
The case of Kythira also highlights a broader issue regarding the way the Greek government often handles island infrastructure. Projects critical to the daily lives and safety of islanders are left without a single project manager, without a binding sequence of approvals, and without a public progress report. Each agency completes or awaits its own portion, and the project as a whole ends up administratively orphaned.
For an island, however, an airport is neither a luxury nor merely another tourism project. It is infrastructure that ensures accessibility, safety, economic resilience, and equal participation in the national sphere. That is why the feasibility of the expansion must be reassessed based on current data, aircraft types, actual and potential demand, operational constraints, life-cycle costs, the environmental footprint, resilience to climate change, and current EASA and ICAO standards. Technical rigor does not undermine the political imperative. Rather, it is what makes it financially viable and feasible.
The situation can still be turned around, as long as we move beyond mere announcements to a public and transparent plan. First and foremost, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Regional Authority, and the Municipality must agree in writing on who is responsible for each deliverable and who will coordinate the entire project. The relevant environmental authorities must clarify which specific studies and approvals are required, in what order, and by what deadline. New, earmarked, and adequate funding for the final studies is also needed: not a general promise or an old budget allocation, but an active budget line, a specific funding agency, an amount adjusted to current prices, and a date for the call for proposals.
Above all, we need a public timeline with quarterly milestones. Any delay must be accompanied by the responsible entity, the cause, the corrective action, and a new binding deadline. This is not more bureaucracy. It is the only way to stop bureaucracy from being used as a constant excuse for inaction.
The sequence of events is now clear. On August 7, 2018, according to the municipal administration, the expansion project had «gotten underway.» On December 17, 2024, the completion of the studies had, according to the mayor, been put «on the back burner.» On December 31, 2025, the issue remained «in the realm of promises.» And on June 11, 2026, the official aeronautical chart still showed a 1,461-meter runway.
There is no need for harsh accusations to reach this conclusion. The dates and the official statements themselves are sufficient. The central government, the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Regional Authority must answer for their own actions and omissions. The municipal government, now in its third term, owes the public something equally concrete—not just another meeting or another assurance, but a responsible entity, funding, a project scope, a date for the call for bids, and a binding timeline.”.
The Kythira Airport does not need another «publicity stunt.» Those in charge need to finally take on their share of responsibility and speak honestly to the public and the local market. Above all, it’s time to start measuring progress by tangible results, not by announcements.
The sources and references for this article are listed below:
- June 11, 2026 – Hellenic AIP / Hellenic Aviation Service Provider (HASP), «LGKC Aerodrome Chart – ICAO,» official aeronautical chart: RWY 02/20, 1,461 × 30 m.
https://aisgr.hasp.gov.gr/aipgr_incl_amdt_0526_wef_11jun2026/cd/ais/eaip/pdf/AD%202/AD2-LGKC/LG_AD_2_LGKC_ADC_en.pdf
- December 21, 2017 – Municipality of Kythira, official press release, «The contract for the preparation of the feasibility study has been signed…». It includes the background information for 2010–2017, the budget allocation of 35,000 + 400,000 euros, and the contract dated December 19, 2017.
https://kythira.gr/oldsite/press_new/2017/211217.htm
- September 6, 2015 – Municipality of Kythira, official press release (archived September 5, 2015), «The Feasibility Study for the extension of the runway at Kythira Airport is set to begin immediately.».
https://kythira.gr/oldsite/press_new/2015/050915.htm
- May 3, 2018 – Municipality of Kythira, official press release, presentation of interim results of the feasibility study and proposal for a runway with a total length of 1,800 m.
https://kythira.gr/oldsite/press_new/2018/030418b.htm
- August 7, 2018 – «Kainourgia Mera,» a public Facebook post titled «Statistics on Arrivals in Kythira,» stating that the expansion «is well underway.».
https://www.facebook.com/kainourgiamera/posts/2170838713167219/
- December 10, 2020 – Municipality of Kythira, official announcement, «The Truth About the Kythira Airport Studies.» Timeline of the submission and approval of the feasibility study, conditions set by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA), and correspondence from 2020.
- May 6, 2019 – «New Day,» campaign website, «Maturation of Major Infrastructure Projects,» reference to a tender for comprehensive studies, and «secured funding of €400,000.».
- May 25, 2019 – «A New Day,» publication of the keynote speech delivered on May 24, 2019; studies are expected to be completed in 2022–2023.
- September 20, 2021 – Municipality of Kythira, official press release, «50 Years of Operation of Kythira State Airport,» speech by the mayor on September 19, 2021.
- July 17, 2023 – «A New Day,» election platform, «Projects of Pan-Kythiraic Significance,» reference to the expected inclusion of a 15,000,000-euro project in the Recovery Fund.
- July 11, 2024 – Municipality of Kythira, Official Press Release, «Attica Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias Visits Kythira,» stating that the issue will be «revisited starting this fall.».
- December 17, 2024 – Municipality of Kythira, official announcement, «Letter from the Mayor Regarding the Airport,» referring to the «calendars» and the complete removal of 400,000 euros from the Region’s 2025 budget.
- February 3, 2025 – Municipality of Kythira, Official Press Release, «The Municipality of Kythira’s Budget for 2025 Totals €52,000,000,» reference to the Special Environmental Impact Assessment and a new funding request.
- June 27, 2025 / Meeting on June 30, 2025 – Municipality of Kythira, Notice of the 11th Meeting of the Municipal Council, First Item: «Justification for the expansion…».
- July 1, 2025 – Kythera.News, «“”All Together, Kythera–Antikythera»: The decision on the airport is a historic moment for our island,” an article on the City Council’s unanimous decision.
«All Together, Kythera-Antikythera»: the decision on the airport is a historic moment for our island
- December 31, 2025 – Municipality of Kythira, Official Press Release, «Meeting between the Mayor and the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister,» references to stagnation, the «realm of promises,» and the Natura Special Environmental Study.
Meeting between the Mayor and the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister
