Traffic chaos looming
Στην σύμβαση έργων στο αεροδρόμιο που εκτελείται προβλέπεται το κλείσιμο του δρόμου και η διαμόρφωση εκεί υποστηρικτικής ζώνης. Το έργο θα ελεγχθεί από ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή και ολοκληρώνεται τον Ιούνιο του 2025.
CORFU. The expropriation and closure of the road adjacent to the airport runway is back on the agenda with the announcement of the upcoming completion of works that meet European requirements, both for the runway itself and for the configuration to the north of the runway end safety area (RESA).
The threat of traffic being choked off at yet another point on the route from South Corfu to the town is now imminent. This concerns the closure of the road currently running alongside the runway of Corfu Airport, in order to satisfy a requirement issued 11 years ago by EASA for the creation of a Runway End Safety Area (RESA).
This reminder has been prompted by Fraport’s announcement that the airport will once again close, this time for two weeks in January (from the 12th to the 26th), to complete the necessary works. According to the announcement:
“The works aim to further enhance the already high level of runway safety and include, among other things, extensive modifications to the Runway Strips and the Runway End Safety Areas (RESA).”
(Bold added by Enimerosi)
However, according to Spyros Kostouros, head of Fraport in Corfu, the works involve installing lighting in the centre of the runway. Meanwhile, according to airport insiders, the configuration of the safety area to the north of the runway does not interfere with potential flights and, therefore, should not hinder airport operations. Completion was initially scheduled for June 2025, but the deadline has been extended by another year—unless the safety zone works are completed in a different phase and at a different time. In any case, until then, Corfu Airport cannot be certified by EASA.
So, unless something dramatic happens regarding the adjacent road, the Ministry of Transport—which oversees the works—will need to direct traffic toward the Eptanisos roundabout, and from there, right and right again, to reach the eastern traffic lights at Pagrateika. A motorist’s delight, in other words—especially on a road already suffering heavily, and which becomes jammed during the summer from Moraitika onward!
During discussion of the issue—initiated by a request from the minority party (T. Metallinos) at a Municipal Council meeting last November—the Central Municipal Council decided to request that the road remain open until it can be placed underground (something that clearly cannot happen within a year). Yet no one ever learned—or at least it was never announced—what the Ministry's response to that request was.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
