Citing tourist threat, court kills new airport
Greece’s highest administrative court has axed government plans to build a new airport on the Cycladic island of Milos, arguing that the project would be detrimental to the environment and lead to excessively high tourist arrivals. The ruling followed an appeal by Milos residents. In a decision made public yesterday, the Council of State’s Fifth Division (which handles environmental issues) ruled that the only permissible new airport works on Milos would be to build new runways at the existing airport. The court said a new airport would be in breach of the small island’s planning regulations and have the adverse effect of sharply boosting tourist arrivals – mainly on foreign charter flights. In a separate decision, the court approved a ministerial act allowing the extension, by 300 meters, of the Syros airport runway.
