Mykonos has one runway. It is short, it handles a significant volume of traffic in July and August, and the approach over the Aegean in certain wind conditions is the kind of thing that concentrates the mind. The island has been handling this situation for decades and the operation is professional. What it is not, in high season, is quick.

The commercial terminal at Mykonos Airport in August is an experience I would not wish on most of my clients at Concierge Unique. It is crowded in the specific way that places become crowded when too many people want the same thing at the same time, and it moves at the pace that crowded places with limited infrastructure tend to move. If you have just crossed the Atlantic or come up from the Gulf and you are about to spend a week in one of the most expensive destinations in Europe, standing in that terminal for ninety minutes is a particular kind of indignity.

Private aviation solves this. It solves it completely and it solves it in a way that sets the tone for the rest of the stay. You land, you are met on the apron, your bags go directly to the vehicle, and fifteen minutes after touchdown you are in the car heading to the villa or the hotel. The week begins properly rather than in the departure queue.

I have been arranging private aviation for clients coming to Mykonos and across Greece since 1999. What I have learned in that time is that the difference between a well-arranged private flight and a badly-arranged one is not the aircraft. The aircraft is the easy part.

The actual complications

Flying privately…

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