Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- International arrivals at Greek airports rose 8.9 percent in the first 11 months of 2011 from the same period a year earlier, according to data collected from 13 airports by the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises.

Passenger arrivals from abroad increased to 11.4 million from 10.4 million over the same period a year earlier, the Athens-based association said in a statement posted on its website. The biggest increases were on the islands of Rhodes and Kos, which each saw a rise of 23 percent, followed by Crete’s Heraklion airport which had a 13 percent increase to 2.2 million and Thessaloniki, the country’s second-biggest city, which rose 11 percent rise to 1.2 million arrivals.

Athens International Airport, Greece’s biggest, was the only one to see a drop in overseas arrivals in the 11-month period, according to the statement. The number of international passengers landing at the airport dropped for a fourth month in November to 141,506; bringing the 11-month decline to 3.2 percent.

--Editors: Chris Peterson, Tim Farrand

To contact the reporter on this story Natalie Weeks in Athens Nweeks2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at Acullen8@bloomberg.net