Upon joint decision of ministers of Defence Dimitris Avramopoulos and Infrastructure Michalis Chrysochoidis, the Civil Aviation Authority is granted, as of the coming year, partial use of the military airfield in Tripoli, Peloponnese, to service passenger traffic, taking eventually some strain off Kalamata Airport, which demonstrated a 54 percent rise in passenger traffic. Many low cost carriers and charters have already expressed interest to launch flights to Tripoli, said Mr. Chrysochoidis. If passenger traffic is serviced at the Tripoli airfield, the Peloponnese will benefit in both commerce and tourism and the region will also attract investors, said Mr. Avramopoulos.