Thessaloniki's inner ring road is being rebuilt. The Flyover project has turned the city's main bypass into a live construction site, and it will stay that way through the 2026 season, with the new road due to open in 2027. First, the reassuring part: the route to Halkidiki is not closed, and you will get to your resort. What changes this summer is timing, because the works sit on the same corridor your airport transfer uses to reach the peninsulas, and a badly chosen hour can cost you.
What is the Thessaloniki Flyover Project?
The Flyover is a major upgrade of Thessaloniki's inner ring road (Perifereiaki Odos), the bypass that carries traffic around the eastern side of the city. It is a large public-private project worth well over €450 million, rebuilding roughly 13 kilometres of road and adding a long elevated deck above the existing one. Its stated aim is to improve access to the airport, southern Thessaloniki and Halkidiki, so it sits squarely on the corridor holidaymakers use. The finished road is expected to open in 2027, which means the whole of 2026 falls inside the construction period.
Through 2026 the works are at their most disruptive: lanes have been narrowed or diverted, and tunnel demolition has pushed traffic onto temporary layouts. When the ring road backs up, the overflow spills onto ordinary city streets, so a jam here is felt across a wide area.
How Roadworks Impact Halkidiki Transfers
The geography is the key to understanding the delays. Thessaloniki Airport sits south-east of the city, on the Halkidiki side, and connects by a short spur onto the A24, the expressway to Nea Moudania and the Kassandra peninsula. The catch is that the A24 follows the eastern section of the inner ring road, exactly where the Flyover works are concentrated, before it branches off south. So an airport transfer to Halkidiki does use the works corridor for its first stretch, and it does so at the same point where city residents escaping to their Halkidiki weekend homes join the same road. Our airport-to-Halkidiki transport guide sets out the routes and options in full.
The distances have not changed: Kassandra is still around an hour to ninety minutes away, Sithonia closer to two hours. What a construction summer changes is how reliable those times are. The same trip can run smoothly first thing in the morning and crawl in the late afternoon, so the delay depends far more on when you travel than on where you are going.
Peak Traffic Hours to Avoid in 2026
Local advice during the works is consistent: avoid the morning peak of roughly 7:00 to 10:30 and the afternoon peak of about 15:00 to 17:00, when commuter and construction traffic overlap. Early morning and later in the evening are the calmest windows. The worst slots of all are Friday and Saturday afternoons in July and August, when the city's own getaway traffic to Halkidiki piles onto the same restricted road. Some weekends also bring short, pre-announced closures of ring-road sections.
If you are driving yourself, check a live traffic app before you leave the airport and be ready to follow the signed diversions rather than an old route that assumes the tunnel is still open; our guide to renting at the airport covers the practicalities of picking up your car. If your flight lands inside a peak window, you cannot move the clock, but you can still avoid guessing.
Getting Through the Roadworks Stress-Free
The works do not change which transport option is "best" for the airport run; that full comparison lives on our Halkidiki transfer guide. What they change is how traffic hits your wallet and your patience. A fixed-price private transfer, such as a flight-tracked car through GetTransfer.com, is quoted up front, so a long jam does not inflate the fare the way a running taxi meter can, and the driver already knows the current diversions. A rental car gives you the freedom to pick your own hour and reroute, provided you are comfortable following live navigation through unfamiliar detours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the road to Halkidiki closed because of the Flyover works?
No. The Halkidiki route stays open throughout. The works narrow and divert parts of the inner ring road, which can add delays at busy times, but they do not cut off access to the peninsulas or the airport.
When will the Thessaloniki Flyover be finished?
The rebuilt ring road is expected to open in 2027, so the entire 2026 season falls within the construction period. Plan around delays this year rather than expecting the finished road.
What is the worst time to drive from the airport to Halkidiki?
Friday and Saturday afternoons in July and August, when the city's weekend getaway traffic overlaps with the roadworks. Aim for early morning or later in the evening, and avoid roughly 15:00 to 17:00.
Summary: Navigating Halkidiki Transfers in 2026
The Flyover works are an inconvenience, not a barrier. Halkidiki, the city and the airport stay connected all summer; you simply treat travel times as ranges, avoid the two daily peaks and the Friday-afternoon rush, and watch for the occasional weekend closure. Get the timing right, or let a flight-tracked transfer absorb the uncertainty, and the roadworks stay a footnote to your holiday rather than its opening scene.
