Athens
14
04
2023
TRANSPORTATION / HOLIDAY

Departure of Athenians for Orthodox Easter picks up pace

The departure of Athenian residents from the Greek capital for Orthodox Easter picked up the pace at Attica’s ports, motorways and airports on Good Friday.
The departure of Athenian residents from the Greek capital for Orthodox Easter picked up the pace at Attica’s ports, motorways and airports on Good Friday.

A total of 14 ferries are scheduled to depart for the Aegean islands and 31 for the islands of the Saronic Gulf. Another 12 ferries will depart from the port of Rafina and 9 from Lavrio.

On Thursday, a total of 19 ferries departed for the Cycladic and eastern Aegean islands, the Dodecanese and Crete, with over 31,000 passengers on board.

Traffic out of the city is also reported to be up on last year. In the 24 hours up to 6 a.m. on Good Friday morning, a total of 311,220 vehicles passed through the toll stations on the Corinth and Lamia motorways, up from 291,141 vehicles on the same period last year.

Trucks of over 3.5 tonnes are forbidden from using national highway lanes leading out of the capital from 06:00 until 16:00 on Good Friday.

Regional bus companies are reported to be fully booked, with 400 services scheduled to depart from Athens on Good Friday from the city’s two regional bus stations.

Services on domestic flights are reported to be at 85-90% capacity, with 594 departures and arrivals scheduled at Athens International Airport on Good Friday.

Top domestic destinations from Athens include Mytilene, Heraklion, Chios, Rhodes, Paros, Limnos, Santorini and Karpathos. Accordingly, the top destinations from Thessaloniki are: Mykonos, Santorini, Chios, Limnos, Mytilini, Chania.

The top international destinations from the capital are Madrid, Barcelona, Hamburg, Marrakesh and Budapest.