Tourist arrivals at the airport of the Aegean island of Rhodes increased by 132 percent last month, compared to the corresponding month in 2010, according to data announced by the Civil Aviation Service.

Tourists arriving in Rhodes with charter flights amounted to 67,692, while during the same month last year they had totalled 42,495. The increase in April was in the region of 132.54 percent, a percentage that was surely unexpected despite optimism over the development of the month's movement.

Last month services of the Civil Aviation Service had recorded the movements of 945 aircraft, while last year the corresponding figure was 436 and in 2009 558.

The increased tourist movement in April is due to a certain degree to the fact that this year the Orthodox and Catholic Easter coincided, while also contributing to this development was the continuing unrest in countries in North Africa that turned European tourists to safer countries.