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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 center 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.
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 fall 1946 traffic re-assumed, introducing the DC-3 aircraft.[3]
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.
Further events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1973–1975 | Construction of aircraft hangars and service roads |
| 1988 | Inauguration of new foreign departure and arrivals lounges (900 m2) |
| 1992 | Completion of new foreign arrivals lounge |
| 1994 | Operation of new foreign departures lounge (2,000 m 2) |
| 1996 | Completion of airport extension by 11,700 m2 |
| 1997 | Operation of new foreign departures lounge (5,000 m2) |
| 2005 | Completion of airport extension by 18,985 m2 |
Area
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.
New airport
During the summer months the airport can become very congested. During this period it is not uncommon that passengers have to wait in queue for check-in outside the terminal.[citation needed] Therefore, a new airport at Kastelli Pediados has been planned. The project is originally expected to be completed by 2015. The cost of this airport will be approximately 1 billion euros. When the new airport is up and running, the existing airport at Heraklion will cease operations.[4][5]
Passenger information
It is often requested by airlines that passengers do not take any photographs or video of the runway.[6] This is because of a Hellenic Air Force base which operates at the airport.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines | Athens, Thessaloniki Summer seasonal: Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Bordeaux, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg (begins 29 May 2014),[7] Larnaca (behins 2 July 2014), Lyon (begins 1 June 2014), Marseille, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich, Mykonos (begins 14 June 2014), Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rhodes, Saint Petersburg, Santorini (begins 14 June 2014), Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Vienna, Zurich (begins 28 May 2014) |
| Aeroflot | Summer seasonal: Moscow-Sheremetyevo |
| Aeroflot operated by Rossiya |
Summer seasonal: Saint Petersburg |
| Air Berlin | Summer seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse, Berlin-Tegel, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg, Zurich |
| Air Méditerranée | Summer seasonal: Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Toulouse |
| Alitalia | Summer seasonal: Milan-Linate (begins 26 July 2014), Rome-Fiumicino (begins 26 July 2014)[8] |
| Arkefly | Summer seasonal: Amsterdam |
| Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways |
Summer seasonal: Vienna |
| Blu-express operated by Blue Panorama Airlines |
Summer seasonal: Catania, Rome-Fiumicino |
| Condor | Summer seasonal: Berlin-Schönefeld, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Stuttgart |
| Corendon Dutch Airlines | Summer seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels |
| Cyprus Airways | Summer seasonal:Larnaca |
| EasyJet | Summer seasonal: Berlin-Schönefeld, Bristol, Edinburgh, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino |
| EasyJet Switzerland | Summer seasonal: Geneva |
| Edelweiss Air | Summer seasonal: Zurich |
| Germania | Summer seasonal: Düsseldorf, Erfurt-Weimar, Friedrichshafen (begins 25 June 2014) [9] |
| Germanwings | Summer seasonal: Berlin-Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart |
| Finnair | Summer seasonal: Helsinki |
| Jetairfly | Summer seasonal: Brussels |
| Jet2.com | Summer seasonal: East Midlands, Glasgow-International, Manchester, Leeds/Bradford, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Livingston | Summer seasonal: Rome-Fiumicino, Verona |
| Luxair | Summer seasonal: Luxembourg |
| Meridiana | Summer seasonal: Bologna, Milan-Malpensa, Verona |
| Minoan Air | Kos, Mytilene, Rhodes Summer seasonal: Athens |
| Mistral Air | Summer seasonal: Naples |
| Monarch Airlines | Summer seasonal: Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, London-Gatwick, Manchester |
| Niki | Summer seasonal: Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Vienna |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Summer seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda |
| SATA International | Summer seasonal: Lisbon (Begins 21 July 2014) [10] |
| Sky Express | Athens, Ikaria, Kos, Kythira, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Sitia |
| SunExpress Deutschland | Summer seasonal:Düsseldorf (begins 18 May 2014), Munich (begins 8 May 2014), Nuremberg (begins 8 May 2014), Stuttgart |
| SmartWings | Summer seasonal: Bratislava, Brno, Budapest, Prague |
| Swiss International Airlines | Summer seasonal : Geneva |
| Thomas Cook Airlines | Summer seasonal: Belfast-International, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow-International, East Midlands, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted (begins 3 June 2014),[11] Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Thomson Airways | Summer seasonal: Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, East Midlands, Glasgow-International, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Transaero Airlines | Summer seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo, Moscow-Vnukovo, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg |
| Transavia.com | Summer seasonal: Amsterdam, Groningen, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Rotterdam |
| Transavia.com France | Summer seasonal: Lyon, Nantes, Paris-Orly |
| TUIfly | Summer seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg, Zweibrücken |
| Ural Airlines | Summer seasonal: Yekaterinburg |
| Volotea | Summer seasonal: Bari (Begins 23 June 2014), Venice-Marco Polo |
| Vueling | Summer seasonal: Barcelona, Rome-Fiumicino (Begins 23 June 2014) |
| Wizz Air | Summer seasonal: Budapest (begins 4 June 2014), Warsaw-Chopin (begins 1 June 2014) |
| Yakutia Airlines | Summer seasonal: Krasnodar (Begins 30 May 2014) |
Summer seasonal charter flights
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Adria Airways | Ljubljana |
| Aegean Airlines | Basel/Mulhouse, Belfast-International (begins 20 June 2014), Bucharest-Henri Coandă, Bologna, Cluj-Napoca, Deauville, Graz, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Kassel, Kazan, Linz, Metz/Nancy, Nantes, Rostov-on-Don, Timișoara, Toulouse, Warsaw-Chopin, Verona, Yerevan |
| airBaltic | Riga |
| Blue Air | Bacău (begins 14 June 2014) |
| Air Bucharest | Bucharest, Iași |
| Air Serbia | Belgrade |
| AlbaStar | Milan-Malpensa |
| Arkia Israel Airlines | Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways |
Graz, Innsbruck |
| Aviatrans Kiev | Kiev, Odessa |
| Bingo Airways | Warsaw-Chopin |
| BlueBird Airways | Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Moscow-Vnukovo, Ufa, St Petersburg, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| Blue Panorama Airlines | Bologna, Milan-Malpensa |
| Bulgaria Air | Sofia |
| Enter Air | Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Lodz, Poznań, Warsaw-Chopin |
| Europe Airpost | Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
| Finnair | Helsinki |
| Germania | Erfurt |
| Hamburg Airways | Dresden, Friedrichshafen, Münster/Osnabrück |
| Holidays Czech Airlines | Brno, Ostrava, Prague |
| Israir Airlines | Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| Jet Time | Copenhagen |
| Jetairfly | Liège, Lille, Ostend/Bruges |
| Livingston | Milan-Malpensa |
| LOT Charters | Warsaw-Chopin |
| Meridiana | Turin, Verona |
| Neos | Milan-Malpensa, Verona |
| NordStar | Moscow-Domodedovo, Norilsk [12] |
| Nordwind Airlines | Belgorod (begins 6 May), Barnaul, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo |
| Novair | Stockholm-Arlanda |
| Orbest Orizonia Airlines | Madrid |
| Orenair | Moscow-Domodedovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg |
| Polet Airlines | Voronezh |
| SAMair | Bratislava |
| Small Planet Airlines | Budapest, London-Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa, Vilnius, Warsaw-Chopin |
| SmartLynx Airlines | Riga |
| SprintAir | Wroclaw |
| Sun d'Or | Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| SunExpress Deutschland | Hanover (begins 19 May 2014) |
| TAROM | Bucharest-Henri Coandă |
| Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium | Brussels, Liège |
| Trawel Fly operated by Mistral Air |
Milan-Bergamo |
| Travel Service | Budapest, Dublin, Poznań, Prague, Warsaw-Chopin |
| TUIfly Nordic | Helsinki |
| Ukraine International Airlines | Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev-Boryspil, Lviv, Odessa
|
| XL Airways France | Lyon, Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
XL Airways France Lyon, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Traffic figures
Annual passenger throughput - 11 year history[2]
| Year | Flights | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 39,290 | 5,046,726 |
| 2002 | 36,664 | 4,791,729 |
| 2003 | 39,523 | 4,833,507 |
| 2004 | 38,170 | 4,712,508 |
| 2005 | 38,266 | 4,932,911 |
| 2006 | 43,740 | 5,345,652 |
| 2007 | 46,012 | 5,438,369 |
| 2008 | 45,280 | 5,437,068 |
| 2009 | 44,842 | 5,052,840 |
| 2010 | 42,396 | 4,907,337 |
| 2011 | 44,520 | 5,292,687 |
| 2012 | 40,856 | 5,076,329 |
| 2013 | 43,544 | 5,778,764 |
| 2014 | 1,824 | 181,912 |
2014 1,824 181,912
Other facilities
The airline Bluebird Airways has its head office at the airport.[13]
References
"Nikos Kazantzakis". WorldAeroData. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
"Statistical data of Iraklion airport "N. Kazantzakis" for the period 1994-2012" (XLS). Hellenic Civilian Aviation Authority. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
"Heraklion Airport History". www.heraklion-airport.info. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
Article from oriste.com: "New airport Iraklio Crete in Kastelli Pediados"
Article from oriste.com: "Construction of Iraklio airport in Kastelli Pediados"
Heraklion Airport, HER, Crete | International Airport in Greece. Heraklionairport.net (2010-03-26). Retrieved on 2013-08-20.
http://airlineroute.net/2013/09/24/a3-s14update1/
http://airlineroute.net/2014/03/25/az-jun14/
http://www.flygermania.de/download/file/Flugplaene/Flugplan.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/
Choose Flights. Fly Thomas Cook (2012-10-01). Retrieved on 2013-08-20.
VQ-BDO, Boeing 737-800, NordStar Airlines - Large size. airpics.net. Retrieved on 2013-08-20.
"Contact." (Archive) Bluebird Airways. Retrieved on 19 September 2012. "Offices: Heraklion International Airport "N.Kazantzakis" - Address in Greek: "Γραφεία: Κρατικός αερολιμένας Ηρακλείου Νίκος Καζαντζάκης"
External links
Portal icon Greece portal
Portal icon Aviation portal
Media related to Heraklion International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
Greek Airports: 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.
LGIR current wind
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