Take-off and landing only at the airport and at the only private approved helicopter service area is allowed from today.
From 6am this morning until June 27, all helicopter landings and take-offs in Mykonos, other than from the Mykonos airport or the one and only private approved helipad in the Kalafati area, are prohibited.
All others are considered illegal and those responsible will be severely punished! The restrictions come just a few days after the helicopter carrying businessman Vassilis Hitos landed on Panomos beach.
An urgent note from the Civil Aviation Authority states that the ban applies to all flights with no exceptions.
The reason for this unprecedented restriction was the recent approach of a helicopter of businessman Vassilis Hitos to a beach in Panormos, on the sandy beach next to bathers and sunbeds, and was made public by bathers.
This decision of the CAA, however, creates major problems in air transport on the “island of winds” which at the beginning of the tourist season already receives many flights of private “air taxis” which transport tourists on a daily basis.
Mykonos airport, due to limited space, cannot cope with the increasing demand and air traffic controllers either delay the landing permit or move it to other times or do not approve it due to the air traffic load.
In Mykonos, some hotels and villas of celebrities have private landing fields, which are not exempt from the ban.
Helicopter companies in Greece and abroad are already preparing a strong protest against the measure, which affects the planning of their routes, and will propose that those who violate flight safety regulations, which are very strict anyway, should be punished in an exemplary manner.