The upgrade of Paros Airport is evolving into one of the most typical cases of infrastructure that is “stuck” in practice, despite its strategic importance for the island and the Cyclades as a whole. The projects were progressing at an extremely slow pace, resulting in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport activating a new round of funding, amounting to 3 million euros, by decision of Minister Christos Dimas. This is a move that aims to ensure the continuation of the work and unlock the project, which had essentially been “frozen”.
With this call for funding, the project is included in the Sectoral Development Program 2021–2025, while an additional funding of 45 million euros is required, which is planned to be transferred to the new programming period 2026–2030. In other words, the final completion is postponed for a long time.
Aktor’s role and the progress of the works
The project is being carried out by the Aktor group, but progress has been significantly delayed. As has been noted, the project has not progressed at the required pace, which has led to successive extensions. The initial completion deadline was July 10, 2025, as stipulated in the contract signed by the former Intrakat (with a 10.54% discount and a total bid of €33.4 million excluding VAT). However, the inability to procure critical materials, as well as general disruptions to the schedule, led to an extension until April 2026.
Subsequently, the situation seemed to worsen. In the summer of 2024, it became clear that the schedule had “overflowed” even further, with some sub-projects being moved to early 2028. It has not yet been clarified whether this development also affects the overall delivery date, but it is an indication of the depth of the delay.
De-inclusion and re-inclusion: What it means for the project
Faced with the inability to complete within the initial planning, the Ministry was led to de-inclusion of the operation from specific sectoral programs. This move reflected the true picture of the work: the project was incomplete, with no visible completion horizon.
Today’s development, with the securing of new resources of 3 million euros, essentially marks a restart. Although it does not solve the overall financial gap, it creates the conditions for the project to return to operational track and avoid complete stagnation until the final inclusion of 45 million euros in the new programming period.
The project: What the upgrade includes
The upgrade plan for Paros Airport is particularly extensive and completely changes the existing infrastructure. According to the announcement, it includes: Construction of a new 12,000 sq m terminal building and the configuration of the surrounding area and the internal road network, a security checkpoint and a permanent wastewater treatment plant, adapted to the needs of the airport, expansion of the aircraft parking floor and the runway, in order to serve more and longer flights, a new control tower and fire station, for the functional and operational upgrade, duty-free areas, canteens, commercial offices and new vehicle parking areas, which will improve the passenger experience.
These are projects that transform the airport into a fully functional regional hub, with modern facilities and increased capacity to manage the constantly increasing passenger traffic.
