Greece 2024
In April 2024 a small group of aviation enthousiasts travelled to the low-flying areas in Greece, hoping to capture some of the participants of the 2024 edition of the Iniochos exercise at Andravida. Luckily, a fair number of aircraft showed up and were captured very nicely!
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Though the group for our dedicated visit to the low-flying area on the Peloponnesos only consisted of eight people (on purpose), it consisted of photographers living in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Poland. Four of the participants met at Schiphol on Tuesday (2 April 2024) early afternoon for a direct flight to Athens. The other four were waiting there already and a smooth rental car pick-up followed. Then, it was time to set course for Diakopto. On arrival there, we had a very smooth check-in and it was off to bed very soon after.
On Wednesday 3 April, we got up early. Early, since we always tend to do that during our tours. Eager to get going, not wanting to miss anything relevant. Since it was too early for breakfast in our family hotel, we went to a small shop nearby that served coffee, sold sandwiches and all other sorts of things we needed to get us through the day.
The drive to the ‘entrance’ of the spot we were aiming for was smooth. We left our van a bit further away and started walking (based on the experience of the road conditions last year). The hill was already occupied by quite a few people when we arrived, but still offered several options to position ourselves.
Not knowing what to expect, we were very happy that the activities kicked off with two Hellenic Air Force F-4Es passing. They were not as low as we wanted them to be, but still a nice start. What followed were two Aeronavale Rafales, that passed a bit lower. Next were three F-16s, one from Greece (going very low), followed by two Romanian ones (that kept high, exploring the valley).
In the afternoon, with the sun moving during the day, we positioned ourselves on the other side. After arriving there, we were soon treated to another Hellenic Air Force F-16, passing quite low. Then, it was time for F-4s again. Two F-4Es passed, with the first one doing what we wanted it to do (keeping low). Another two French Rafales passed by (also relatively low). The four Saudi Typhoons that followed were clearly still just having a peek, since they were very high. The final participants of the day were three Romanian F-16s, of which the first one made a very nice and low pass.
Very happy with the result of the first day, we returned to our hotel and enjoyed a very good meal in the evening. A very nice first day!
Thursday (4 April) started the same way as the Wednesday did; getting up early and shopping at the local coffee stop. Today we drove our van onto the dirt road, since it was clearly better than the year before. This saved us some time.
After our arrival at the right spot, we had to wait for about an hour before the first aircraft showed up. That wait wasn´t really a big surprise, since we knew we would be there too early, but still didn´t want to show too late. The first aircraft were three Hellenic Air Force F-16s. And these certainly knew how a great pass should be; low! They were brutally low! Next up were two F-4Es. The first one made a great pass at perfect height. Great times! The second one kept flying a bit higher. The F-4s were followed by a pair of Aeronavale Rafales, that also managed to keep it pretty low. Next item on the menu were four Mirage 2000s (three single seat aircraft and a dual). The single seaters were excitingly low. For all Greek photographers present, this was the first time they witnessed Mirage 2000s passing the gap.
By now it was time to head to the other side again, following the sun. In the afternoon, we were treated to four Saudi Typhoons, of which only the first one made its way through the valley at the height we preferred. Later in the afternoon, another HAF F-16 passed by.
The evening was spent in our hotel again, enjoying the meal and drinks there. The whole evening, the pass of the first F-4 on this day was on top of everybody’s mind.
Friday (5 April) was the last day of the tour already. We did what we were used to by now, shopping nearby, having a coffee, and positioning ourselves on the edge of the mountain. Ready for things starting to happen.
Not expecting too much activity, this being a Friday (the Hellenic Air Force generally doesn’t fly too much on a Friday), we were very happy to hear aircraft coming in at around 10 o’clock. They were two Hellenic Air Force F-16s that were very low again. These were followed by two Qatar Emiri Air Force Rafales, the second one passing by very nicely.
It later turned out that the two Rafales were the last aircraft seen by us in the low-flying area. After they passed we waited for while, still in brilliant weather conditions. In the afternoon we had to head back to Athens for our return flight. After dropping one participant in Athens, we checked in for our flight. The wait was a bit long, since our flight was delayed. It didn’t spoil our good spirits though. We were very happy with the result of the three days we spent in the low-flying area. We had seen more aircraft than expected and the weather was brilliant!
