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 km 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"
IATA: HER ICAO: LGIR
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Owner	Greek State
Serves	Heraklion
Location	Heraklion, Greece
Opened	1937 (1937)
Hub for	Bluebird Airways Sky Express
Focus city for	Aegean Airlines Ellinair
Elevation AMSL	115 ft / 35 m
Coordinates	35°20′23″N 25°10′49″E
Map
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 (2019)
Passengers 7,933,558 Passenger traffic change 2.0% Aircraft movements 52,294 Aircraft movements change 6.1%
Sources: Runways[1] Statistics: Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority[2]

A new airport for Heraklion, located 39 km to the south-east of the city at Kasteli, is under construction and due to open by 2025.[3] Once completed, the new Kasteli International Airport will replace the current Heraklion International Airport as the hub for central Crete.

History

The airport first opened in March 1939. This was then merely a piece of flat agricultural land. The first aeroplane (a Junkers Ju 52) carried the first passengers to the site. During the Second World War operations ceased, but in the fall 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. Jojo AIr also flew here but ended service on July 2, 2001.

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.

Terminal Extension

The latest airport expansion projects began in October 2017. The projects will be entirely financed by the Duty Free Shops SA, in agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the Hellenic Ministry of Waters, without any cost to the Greek government, include:[5][6][7][8]

• the redesign of the layout of the ground and the first floors of the airport
• the expansion of the terminal by 2,900 m²), an extension of 17 meters to the airside
• the renovation of a further 8,000 m²) within the existing terminal
• the increase in the number of gates for arrivals and departures of passengers
• integration of the arrival hall
• the modification of a luggage belt, so that passengers are not required to queues for their receipt
• improve the operation of electronic ticketing
• upgrading the video ad system
• the modernization of air conditioning in the arrivals hall (budget 700.000 Euros)

The latest extension began on October 2017 and was completed on 30 March 2018, in time for the airport's high season.[9][10][11]

Further events

Year	Event
1973–1975	Construction of aircraft hangars and service roads
1988	Inauguration of new international departure and arrivals lounges (900 m^2)
1992	Completion of new international arrivals lounge
1994	Operation of new international departures lounge (2,000 m^2)
1996	Completion of airport expansion by 11,700 m^2
1997	Operation of new international departures lounge (5,000 m^2)
2005	Completion of airport expansion by 18,985 m^2
2018	Expansion of the terminal by 2,900 m^2 and renovation of a further 8,000 m^2

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens, Thessaloniki Seasonal: Beirut, Bordeaux, Brest,[12] Deauville, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Larnaca, Lyon, Marseille, Metz/Nancy, Munich, Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Toulouse, Yerevan, Zürich[13] Seasonal charter: Gdańsk,[14] Kiev–Boryspil,[15] Poznań,[14] Tbilisi[16]
Aeroflot	Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo
airBaltic	Seasonal charter: Riga[17]
Aircompany Armenia	Seasonal: Yerevan
Air France	Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Moldova	Seasonal charter: Chișinău[18]
Alitalia	Seasonal: Milan–Linate ,[19] Rome–Fiumicino[20]
Arkia	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
ASL Airlines France	Seasonal charter: Lyon,[21] Manchester[21]
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna Seasonal charter: Graz,[22] Linz,[22] Salzburg[22]
Aviolet	Seasonal charter: Belgrade[23]
Bluebird Airways	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Blue Panorama Airlines	Seasonal: Bergamo,[24] Bologna,[25] Rome–Fiumicino
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Gatwick[26]
Brussels Airlines	Seasonal: Brussels[27]
Bulgaria Air	Seasonal charter: Sofia[28]
Buzz	Seasonal charter: Katowice,[29] Kraków,[29] Poznań,[29] Warsaw-Chopin[29]
Chair Airlines	Seasonal: Zürich
Condor	Seasonal: Berlin–Schönefeld,[30] Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Stuttgart
Corendon Airlines Europe[31]	Seasonal: Berlin–Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Erfurt/Weimar,[32] Friedrichshafen,[32] Graz, Hamburg, Hannover, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Katowice,[32] Leipzig/Halle, Linz, London–Gatwick (begins 3 June 2021),[33] Memmingen,[32] Munich,[32] Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Rostock,[32] Stuttgart, Vienna, Weeze (begins 3 May 2021),[32] Zurich Seasonal charter: Iasi ,[32] Riga [32]
Corendon Dutch Airlines[34]	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels, Groningen, Maastricht/Aachen, Rotterdam
Cyprus Airways	Larnaca Seasonal: Bratislava[35]
easyJet	Seasonal: Berlin–Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Bristol, Edinburgh, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
easyJet Switzerland	Seasonal: Geneva
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zurich
Ellinair	Thessaloniki Seasonal: Belgrade, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Katowice, Kazan, Kharkiv, Kiev–Zhuliany, Lviv, Moscow–Vnukovo, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Warsaw–Chopin[36]
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Katowice,[29] Warsaw–Chopin,[29] Wrocław[29]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Berlin–Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Salzburg, Stuttgart
Finnair	Seasonal: Helsinki
flyBAIR	Seasonal charter: Bern
FlyOne	Seasonal charter: Chișinău[18]
Freebird Airlines Europe	Seasonal charter: Leipzig/Halle [37]
Iberia Express	Seasonal: Madrid
Israir	Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv[38]
Jet2.com[39]	Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
LOT Polish Airlines	Seasonal: Katowice,[40] Poznań,[40] Warsaw–Chopin,[40] Wrocław[40]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt,[41] Munich
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg
Neos[42]	Seasonal: Bergamo, Bologna, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona
NordStar	Seasonal charter: Moscow–Domodedovo
Nordwind Airlines[43]	Seasonal charter: Kaliningrad, Kaluga ,[43] Kazan, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody ,[43] Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Ufa, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair	Seasonal: Bergamo, Berlin–Tegel,[44] Bologna, Düsseldorf, Milan–Malpensa, Vienna[45]
S7 Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow–Domodedovo[46]
Sky Express	Athens, Kos, Rhodes, Zakynthos[47] Seasonal: Paros[48]
SkyUp	Seasonal: Kharkiv,[49] Kiev–Boryspil, Lviv,[49] Odessa,[49] Zaporizhia[49]
SmartLynx Airlines	Seasonal charter: Riga[50]
SmartLynx Airlines Estonia	Seasonal charter: Tallinn[50][51]
Smartwings[52]	Seasonal: Brno, Katowice,[53] Lille,[54] Ostrava, Prague
Smartwings Poland	Seasonal charter: Gdańsk, Poznań,[55] Warsaw–Chopin,[55] Wrocław[29]
Smartwings Slovakia[52]	Seasonal: Bratislava, Košice
Sunclass Airlines	Seasonal charter: Billund,[56] Copenhagen,[56] Gothenburg,[57] Malmö,[57] Oslo–Gardermoen,[58] Stockholm–Arlanda[57]
Sundair	Seasonal: Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Kassel
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Geneva
Transavia	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Rotterdam
Transavia France	Seasonal: Lyon, Montpellier,[59] Nantes, Paris–Orly
TUI Airways[60]	Seasonal: Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich Seasonal charter: Dublin[61]
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels, Charleroi, Liège, Lille, Ostend/Bruges
TUI fly Deutschland	Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart
TUI fly Netherlands	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Rotterdam
Ural Airlines	Seasonal charter: Yekaterinburg[62]
Volotea	Athens Seasonal: Bari, Genoa (begins 7 July 2021),[63] Lyon (begins 10 April 2021),[64] Marseille, Mykonos (begins 1 July 2021), Naples, Palermo (resumes 7 July 2021), Thessaloniki,[65] Toulouse, Venice, Verona
Vueling	Seasonal: Barcelona, Rome–Fiumicino
Windrose Airlines	Seasonal charter: Kiev–Boryspil[15]
Wizz Air	Larnaca [66] Seasonal: Bucharest,[67] Budapest, Dortmund ,[68][69] London–Luton,[70] Milan–Malpensa ,[71] Tirana (begins 18 August 2020)[72], Vienna[73]
Yakutia Airlines	Seasonal charter: Moscow–Vnukovo[62]

Statistics

Traffic figures

Historical annual traffic statistics[74]

Year	Flights	Passengers	Passengers Change (%)
2001	39,290	5,046,726	2.0
2002	36,664	4,791,729	5.1
2003	39,523	4,833,507	0.9
2004	38,170	4,712,508	2,5
2005	38,266	4,932,911	4.7
2006	43,740	5,345,652	8.4
2007	46,012	5,438,369	1.7
2008	45,280	5,437,068	0.02
2009	44,842	5,052,840	7.1
2010	42,396	4,907,337	2.9
2011	44,520	5,292,687	7.9
2012	40,856	5,076,329	4.6
2013	43,544	5,792,429	14.7
2014	43,637	6,024,958	5.2
2015	43,970	6,057,355	0.5
2016	47,804	6,742,746	11.3
2017	51,114	7,336,783	8.8
2018	55,680	8,098,465	10.4
2019	52,294	7,933,558	2.0

Other facilities

The airline Bluebird Airways has its head office at the airport.[75]

Trivia

• It is often requested by airlines that passengers do not take any photographs or video of the runway. This is because of a Hellenic Air Force base (126 CG) which operates at the airport.

See also

• List of airports in Crete
• List of the busiest airports in Greece
• Transport in Greece

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External links

Media related to Heraklion International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official Website / Civil Aviation Authority: Heraklion International Airport, "N. Kazantzakis"
• Greek Airport Guide: Iraklio Airport, "N. Kazantzakis"
• LGIR on Airliners.net
• Airport information for LGIR at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.