Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis today visited major infrastructure projects, production facilities and social care services in Messenia.
The prime minister visited Kalamata “Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos” Airport, where he was briefed on its upgrade works, the most significant intervention in the airport’s infrastructure in more than three decades.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis toured the airport accompanied by Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Dimas, Achilleas Constantakopoulos, Kopelouzos Group chief executive Christos Kopelouzos, and Kalamata Mayor Thanasis Vasilopoulos.
Investment programme
During his visit, he was briefed on behalf of Fraport Greece about the investment programme, worth a total of 120 million euros, by chief executive Alexander Zinell, chief financial officer Vangelis Baltas, chief technical officer Sergio Ocampo Dobalo and general manager of operations Panagiotis Spyratos, as well as Kopelouzos Group deputy chief executive and general manager Ioannis Arapoglou.
The upgraded airport will significantly improve access to the Peloponnese, sharply increasing its capacity to handle passenger traffic and creating new prospects for the local economy.
Plans include the construction of a new terminal and aircraft parking area, the modernisation of existing facilities, and the expansion of security screening areas and gates to make passenger flows easier and faster.
The prime minister then visited a construction site on the Kalamata-Rizomylos-Pylos-Methoni road, which will stretch almost 49 kilometres in total.
Road link
Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the progress of work, which includes the construction of a new road, improvements to existing roads, the development of more than 41 kilometres of new frontage roads, 12 bridges and associated engineering works.
A major flood protection project, 18 km long, is also planned to protect the area around the airport.
After visiting the two infrastructure projects, the prime minister said: “My government and I personally pledged to deliver two very important projects for Messenia and the entire Peloponnese. I am very pleased that both projects, which are so important for this blessed region, are moving ahead at great speed.
The concession agreement for Kalamata airport has been signed, work to upgrade the old terminal will begin immediately, and Kalamata will have a brand-new airport within the next 2.5 years. The aim is to more than double the traffic that Kalamata airport can handle. You can all understand how significant the impact of this investment will be for tourism across Messenia and the entire Peloponnese.
The second major project I pledged to deliver, which is also progressing rapidly, is the road linking Kalamata with Rizomylos, Pylos and Methoni, as well as the Gialova bypass. Work on both projects is already under way.
For our friends here in Messenia, I need hardly point out how much their lives will change once these two roads are completed. They are due to be finished in the summer of 2028, and we will be able to meet these deadlines.
To those who want to take Greece backwards and keep talking about the past, we respond with our work, our tangible achievements.
We are looking to the future. We know very well that important infrastructure projects remain outstanding and must be completed. But no one can accuse us of failing to honour the commitments we made to the people of Messenia.
I hope we will be back here soon to follow the progress of the projects and continue investing in and equipping this region with the infrastructure it so badly needs.
If you heard a plane flying overhead, it was probably a training aircraft. I want to recall the very significant investment we have made here in the training infrastructure of our Air Force, at Kalamata military airfield, with the acquisition of 10 brand-new training aircraft.
Here in Kalamata, we are also able to train not only our own air force cadets and the pilots who will fly our F-35s, upgraded F-16s and Rafales, but also pilots from foreign air forces. I think this is further proof of the very significant investment we have made in the overall modernisation of our country’s Armed Forces.”
Dimas’s remarks
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Dimas said: “We were pleased to welcome the prime minister to Kalamata airport. As you know, the concession has been signed. Very significant infrastructure works at the airport will begin immediately. It will be substantially upgraded, with the aim of doubling its passenger traffic capacity within a decade.
At the same time, we visited a PPP project construction site on the Kalamata-Rizomylos-Pylos-Methoni road, where work is now close to 30% complete. This is a truly important infrastructure project that will reduce journey times in the south-western Peloponnese, particularly in Messenia, and which we expect to be completed in the summer of 2028.
So these are two very important developments, not only for Messenia and the Peloponnese, but, I would say, for all of Greece. They are two projects that will genuinely upgrade infrastructure and transport in our country.”
The prime minister’s first stop was a residential facility for adults with autism spectrum disorders, the only one in the Peloponnese Region, located in Meropi, in the municipality of Oichalia.
Accompanied by Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Thanasis Kontogeorgis, New Democracy MPs Miltos Chrysomallis, Giannis Lampropoulos and Periklis Mantas, and Oichalia Mayor Giota Georgakopoulou, the prime minister toured the facility and spoke with residents and staff about issues relating to its further support and development.
The facility currently accommodates 12 people, each of whom has an individualised treatment plan. Its multidisciplinary staff provide daily care and assistance with everyday activities, as well as services such as speech and occupational therapy. The facility also supports creative activities and the development of independent living skills.
Services are provided free of charge, with operating costs covered entirely by the state budget. The facility began operating in 2025, with funding from the Recovery Fund.
ECOGROW facility
The prime minister’s next stop was ECOGROW, a hydroponic tomato greenhouse in Oichalia. The greenhouse incorporates innovative technologies that allow full control of climatic conditions in the growing area.
In the first phase, tomatoes will be grown on an area of 10 stremmas, with plans to expand the cultivated area to 200 stremmas and add other vegetables, including strawberries, lettuce, aubergines, peppers and cucumbers, while creating more jobs. Plans also call for the installation of robotic cultivation and packaging systems and the use of artificial intelligence to control the microclimate.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis was welcomed and shown around the facility by the company’s chief executive, Dimitris Baltakos, and project manager Stelios Diamantopoulos.
At the end of his visit, the prime minister said: “We have made major efforts to encourage producers across the board to invest in greenhouses. What we see here is a state-of-the-art hydroponic greenhouse. We need to meet the country’s food needs, particularly for products for which, unfortunately, we remain reliant on imports.
I also want to stress how important it is to create 200 jobs in this area, and to highlight the support you will receive from SDAM. Supporting areas undergoing the transition away from lignite is a major priority for us. We have done this in northern Greece, and we are doing it here in the Megalopolis area. I will also be back this afternoon to make an important announcement that the region has been waiting for for a long time.
But first and foremost, we support private enterprise, and we are pleased that all your partners are Greek companies and that you are developing expertise which you will then be able to scale up very easily.”
The prime minister then attended the inauguration of Kalamata’s new sewage sludge management facility, accompanied by Kalamata Mayor Thanasis Vasilopoulos. It is one of 18 facilities of this kind built across the country with funding from the Recovery Fund, totalling 165 million euros.