Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kalamata Airport, officially "Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos" State Airport, lies on the Pamisos River plain between Kalamata and Messini in the southern Peloponnese. It is a joint civil-military field, home to a Hellenic Air Force training wing as well as summer charter and scheduled traffic, and offers an ILS approach onto its long north-south runway system.
Kalamata Airport (ICAO LGKL, IATA KLX) serves the city of Kalamata and the wider Messinia region of the southern Peloponnese. It is a public/military aerodrome operated by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, shared with a Hellenic Air Force base, and is the focus city for Aegean Airlines, which has based aircraft there since 2013. For the visiting simulator pilot it is notable for its long runway set against the Taygetos mountains, its mixed civil-military character, and a runway layout that includes an ILS-equipped approach.
The airport sits on the EO82 road between Kalamata and Messini, west of the disused railway line, on the flat Pamisos River plain close to the Messinian Gulf. The runway system runs broadly north to south, with the terminal on the eastern side and the Hellenic Air Force base to the west of the runway.
Kalamata has two parallel physical runways, both asphalt, hard-surfaced and lit. The longer pair, 17L/35R, is 9,459 ft. The shorter pair, 17R/35L, measures 8,860 ft on the 17R heading and 8,758 ft on the reciprocal 35L heading; 35L is equipped with an ILS. Field elevation is 20 ft.
Aerodrome radio is provided on A/G at 563.7 MHz. Approach and Tower services both operate on 120.75 MHz. An ILS is available for the approach to runway 35L.
Kalamata Airport opened in 1959. Charter flights began operating from the field in 1986, and a new passenger terminal was built in 1991, the same year the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority took over as operator. The airport was renamed in 2012 in honour of Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos. Since 1976 the adjoining Hellenic Air Force base has housed the Instrument Flight Training Center of the 120th Air Training Wing, and since 2021 it has also hosted an International Flight Training Center established through a collaboration between Elbit Systems and the Hellenic Air Force. The airport has seen a small number of notable incidents, including the hijacking of an Olympic Airways NAMC YS-11 shortly after departure in October 1971, the arrest of fourteen plane spotters near the air base in November 2001, and a wingtip strike on a fence by a landing Ryanair 737 MAX 8200 in June 2025.
Kalamata remains the busiest airport in the Peloponnese, handling mainly seasonal charter and scheduled leisure traffic during the summer months alongside its continuing role as a Hellenic Air Force training base sharing the same runway. Aegean Airlines has operated a base at the airport since 2013. In late 2024 Fraport AG, together with Greek partners, won the concession to operate Kalamata Airport and has committed to a multi-year programme of terminal modernisation and expansion.