. I made a reservation seven (!) months ago for four of us from Paros to Athens in June. Yesterday Aegean called to say that if we went to the airport on the day of our scheduled departure there would be a good chance that we wouldn't get on the flight. They said that all passengers for that flight are being told the same thing.

Aegean said it had made other arrangements which involve a ferry ride to Mykonos, bus to the airport, and flight back to Athens. The flight leaves much later in the day than our original flight from Paros.

Has anyone else ever had this happen? In many trips to the islands, this is a first for us! Any advice appreciated!

I will say this: at least THEY ACTUALLY CALLED YOU.

Dukey1: Thanks for the laugh! I needed it.

Correction: I made our hotel and car reservations seven months ago. The airline tickets were reserved in early December.

It appears that Olympic Air was assuming the new Paros Airport with a longer runway would be open, and took reservations for 78 pax Dash 8 Q400 aircraft. Now it has been announced that the new airport won't be ready, and Olympic must continue to use the old airport with its 700 meter runway.

The old airport can take 37 pax Dash 8-100 aircraft, but not the larger Q400. Furthermore, due to takeoff weight restrictions, return flights to Athens carry only about 15 passengers, depending upon weather conditions.

This problem has occurred because the airport project funded construction of the runway, but not a terminal or other support facilities. It was planned that the new airport would open with temporary buildings, but apparently that won't happen any time soon. Now Paros has a new runway that can't be used.

If I were you I would take the morning Blue Star directly from Paros to Piraeus. You will be back in Athens around 3pm with much less fuss than going through Mkyonos.

BTW, if you are on Facebook, this topic was discussed in the Paros Life & Naxos Life group. Look for a post on March 18th by someone who received the same notice from Aegean/Olympic as you.

Thank you so much, Heimdall for the explanation. Aegean didn't really explain the problem which would have been much easier to accept! I will look on Facebook for the discussion.

I have made alternate arrangements for an overnight in Naxos, then flight on Aegean to Athens the next day. It means cutting Paros short, which is never my choice, but I do love Naxos, too!

Good decision, WWK! That sounds much better than what you were offered by Aegean.

In case you are interested, these are the particulars for the airport contract:
http://www.intrakat.gr/en/news/press...paros-airport/

As you can see, no provision was made for a terminal building, and it may be a few more years before a permanent one will be funded. The plan for temporary buildings was deemed too expensive, so that was turned down too. In the meantime the people of Paros are looking for another solution.