History
Civil aviation on Rhodes started after the second world war, on the location of the nearby military Rhodes Maritsa Airport. This has been the island's main airport until 1980. That was when the new Rhodes International Airport was opened. The need for a new facility was big, as the 'old' Maritsa airport did not meet the needs for a modern civil airport.
The new "Diagoras" airport was built in 1977. It was decided that, on this location, it would meet the needs of the island better. Over the passing years, many improvements have been made to the airport, like expansion of taxiways, platform and airport buildings. The most recent upgrade is the new passenger terminal, which opened in 2005, to better accommodate the growing amount of charters and passengers. The airport's plants currently cover a total area of 60,000 m2
Read more about this topic: Rhodes International Airport
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)