Heraklion International Airport

Heraklion International Airport "Nikos Kazantzakis" (IATA: HER, ICAO: LGIR) is the primary airport on the island of Crete, Greece, and the country's second busiest airport after Athens International Airport. It is located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the main city centre of Heraklion, near the municipality of Nea Alikarnassos. It is a shared civil/military facility. The airport is named after Heraklion native Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek writer and philosopher. Nikos Kazantzakis Airport is Crete's main and busiest airport, serving Heraklion (Ηράκλειο), Aghios Nikolaos (Άγιος Νικόλαος), Malia (Mάλλια), Hersonissos (Χερσόνησος), Stalida (Σταλίδα), Elounda (Ελούντα) and other resorts.

Heraklion International Airport
"Nikos Kazantzakis"

Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ηρακλείου
"Νίκος Καζαντζάκης"
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OwnerGreek State
ServesHeraklion
LocationHeraklion, Greece
Opened1937 (1937)
Hub for
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL115 ft / 35 m
Coordinates35°20′23″N 25°10′49″E
Website"heraklion-airport.gr"
Map
HER is located in Greece
HER
HER
Location of airport in Greece
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,714 8,800 Asphalt
12/30 1,566 5,138 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers8,066,000
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 59.8%
Aircraft movements55,549
Aircraft movements changeIncrease 43.8%
Sources: Runways[1] Statistics: Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority[2]

A new airport for Heraklion, located 39 kilometres (24 mi) to the south-east of the city at Kasteli, is under construction and due to open by 2027.[3] Once completed, the new Kasteli International Airport will replace the current Heraklion International Airport as the hub for central Crete, but also providing international links for all of Crete.

History

The airport first opened in March 1939. At that time, this was merely a piece of flat agricultural land. The first aeroplane (a Junkers Ju 52) carried the initial passengers to the site. During the Second World War, the airfield was the site of the Battle of Heraklion during the Battle of Crete, in 1941. Civilian operations ceased; but in the autumn of 1946, traffic resumed, introducing the DC-3 aircraft.[4]

At first, the airport only offered very basic service, with only primitive installations on the site in the form of three tents, smoke for wind determination, and storm lamps for runway lighting.

In 1947, the first (small) terminal was erected. Hellenic Airlines started commercial flights in 1948. At that time, a total of 4,000 people were served. The year 1953 saw the construction of a paved runway which was initially 1,850 meters long and oriented as 09/27. The next major event followed in 1954, when a four-engined DC-4 aircraft landed for the first time at the airport. In that year, the airport handled approximately 18,000 passengers. From 1957 onward, the new Olympic Airways used the airport, starting services with the DC-6 aircraft.

From 1968 until 1971, the runway was extended to 2,680 meters and a new terminal and other facilities were constructed, essentially making it a new airport. On March 18, 1971, the first charter flight from abroad (British Airways) operated at the airport. The new airport itself was officially inaugurated on May 5, 1972.

The airport is scheduled to cease operations in 2027 and to be replaced by the (expanded and renamed) Kasteli Airport.[5]

Terminal extension

The latest airport expansion projects began in October 2017.[6][7][8][9]

The latest extension began in October 2017 and was completed on 30 March 2018, in time for the airport's high season.[10][11][12]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Heraklion Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens, Corfu (begins 6 June 2024),[13] Thessaloniki (resumes 29 October 2023)[14]
Seasonal: Alexandroupoli,[15] Belgrade,[16] Bordeaux, Brest, Deauville, Düsseldorf,[17] Frankfurt,[17] Larnaca,[18] Lille,[19] Lyon, Marseille, Munich,[17] Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Tirana,[20] Toulouse, Vienna,[21] Zürich[22]
Seasonal charter: Brașov,[23] Bremen,[24] Budapest, Craiova, Friedrichshafen,[25] Iași, Lisbon, Memmingen,[26] Münster/Osnabrück,[27] Oradea, Timișoara, Yerevan
AeroItalia Seasonal: Bergamo[28]
Air Astana Seasonal: Almaty,[29] Nur-Sultan[29]
Air France Seasonal: Marseille, Nice, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Serbia Seasonal: Belgrade[30]
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga, Tallinn,[31] Vilnius[31]
Animawings[32] Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni
Arkia Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
Avion Express Seasonal charter: Vilnius
Bluebird Airways Seasonal: Tel Aviv
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[33] London–Heathrow
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[34]
Bulgaria Air Seasonal: Sofia
Buzz Seasonal charter: Katowice, Wrocław
Chair Airlines Seasonal: Zürich
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg (begins 1 May 2024),[35] Stuttgart, Zürich[36]
Corendon Airlines[37] Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Erfurt/Weimar, Graz,[38] Hannover, Linz, London–Gatwick (resumes 28 April 2024),[39] Manchester (resumes 29 April 2024),[40] Nuremberg, Rostock,[41], Stuttgart (begins 27 April 2024)[42] Vienna
Corendon Dutch Airlines[43] Seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels, Groningen, Maastricht/Aachen
Cycladic[44] Astypalaia, Milos, Paros, Syros
Cyprus Airways Larnaca
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich
easyJet Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse,[45] Berlin, Birmingham (begins 3 April 2024),[46] Bordeaux, Bristol, Edinburgh, Geneva, Liverpool,[45] London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Nantes, Naples,[47] Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zürich
Enter Air Seasonal charter: Warsaw–Chopin[48]
European Air Charter Seasonal charter: Graz, Linz,[49] Varna[50]
Eurowings Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund,[51] Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Prague, Salzburg, Stuttgart
Seasonal charter: Innsbruck[52]
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
FlyOne Seasonal charter: Chișinău[53]
GetJet Airlines Seasonal charter: Vilnius
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Bern, Zürich[54]
HiSky Seasonal charter: Bucharest–Otopeni, Oradea, Timișoara,
Iberia Express Seasonal: Madrid
Iberojet Seasonal charter: Lisbon
Israir Seasonal: Tel Aviv[55]
ITA Airways Seasonal: Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino[56]
Jet2.com[57] Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool (begins 3 May 2024),[58] London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
Leav Aviation Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn[59]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt,[60] Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Marabu Seasonal: Dusseldorf,[61] Frankfurt,[61] Hamburg,[61] Leipzig/Halle,[62] Munich, Nuremberg,[63] Stuttgart[61]
Neos[64] Seasonal: Bergamo,[65] Bologna, Catania, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona
Nordica Seasonal charter: Tallinn[66]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen,[67] Oslo
Olympic Air Thessaloniki (ends 28 October 2023)[14]
Seasonal: Rhodes
Ryanair Seasonal: Bergamo, Berlin, Bologna, Charleroi, Milan–Malpensa, Thessaloniki, Vienna
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen,[68] Oslo
Seasonal charter: Gothenburg[69]
Sky Express[70][71] Athens, Kos, Rhodes, Thessaloniki
Seasonal: Brussels, Karpathos, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Volos, Zakynthos
Seasonal charter: Amsterdam, Bucharest–Otopeni,[72] Cluj-Napoca,[72] Iași,[72] Lisbon,[73] Sibiu,[72] Târgu Mureș,[72] Weeze[74]
SmartLynx Airlines[75][76] Seasonal charter: Münster/Osnabrück,[77] Tallinn
Smartwings[78][79] Seasonal: Bratislava, Brno, Košice, Ostrava, Prague
Seasonal charter: České Budějovice,[80] Gdańsk, Karlovy Vary,[81][82] Pardubice, Poznań, Warsaw–Chopin
Southwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya[83]
Sunclass Airlines[84][85][86] Seasonal charter: Billund, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Malmö, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Sundair[87] Seasonal: Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Kassel, Lübeck
Swiss International Air Lines[88] Seasonal: Geneva
Trade Air[89][90] Seasonal charter: Ljubljana
Transavia[91] Amsterdam
Seasonal: Brussels, Eindhoven, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, Paris–Orly, Rotterdam/The Hague
TUI Airways[92][93] Seasonal: Belfast–International,[94] Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Dublin,[95] East Midlands, Exeter, London–Gatwick, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich
TUI fly Belgium[96] Seasonal: Antwerp,[97] Brussels, Liège, Ostend/Bruges
TUI fly Deutschland[98] Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Stuttgart
TUI fly Netherlands[99] Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam/The Hague
Tus Airways Larnaca[100]
Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Volotea[101] Athens
Seasonal: Bari, Bordeaux,[102] Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Toulouse, Verona
Vueling[103] Seasonal: Barcelona, Rome–Fiumicino
Wizz Air[104] Seasonal: Belgrade, Bucharest–Otopeni, Budapest, Catania, Gdańsk, Kraków, London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino, Tel Aviv, Warsaw–Chopin

Statistics

Traffic figures
Annual passenger traffic at HER airport. See Wikidata query.

Historical annual traffic statistics[105]

YearFlightsPassengersPassengers Change (%)
200139,2905,046,726Decrease 2.0
200236,6644,791,729Decrease 5.1
200339,5234,833,507Increase 0.9
200438,1704,712,508Decrease 2.5
200538,2664,932,911Increase 4.7
200643,7405,345,652Increase 8.4
200746,0125,438,369Increase 1.7
200845,2805,437,068Decrease 0.02
200944,8425,052,840Decrease 7.1
201042,3964,907,337Decrease 2.9
201144,5205,292,687Increase 7.9
201240,8565,076,329Decrease 4.6
201343,5445,792,429Increase 14.7
201443,6376,024,958Increase 5.2
201543,9706,057,355Increase 0.5
201647,8046,742,746Increase 11.3
201751,1147,336,783Increase 8.8
201855,6808,098,465Increase 10.4
201952,2947,933,558Decrease 2.0
202020,8762,398,264Decrease 69.8
202138,6285,046,236Increase 112.2
202255,5498,066,000

Increase 59.0

Other facilities

The airline Bluebird Airways has its head office at the airport.[106]

Sky express also maintains a lounge at the airport.[107]

See also

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