HER Heraklion Airport Information

Where is Heraklion Airport?  

Crete is Greece's largest and most populated island. With its own poetry, dance and music, Crete is known for its unique local culture. Crete was once at the centre of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), the oldest recorded civilization in Europe.

Heraklion International Airport (IATA: HER, ICAO: LGIR), officially Heraklion International Airport, Nikos Kazantzakis or Heraklion Nikos Kazantzakis Airport, also referred to as Crete Airport, Nea Alikarnassos Airport, or simply Heraklion Airport, is located 5 kilometres (3miles) east of Heraklion city centre, on the island of Crete, Greece. HER Airport is situated near the municipality of Nea Alikarnassos, and is a shared civil/military facility. The airport is named to honour Heraklion born Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek philosopher and writer.

HER is Crete's primary airport. The smaller Chania International Airport (CHQ) handles seasonal flights to the western part of the island.

In 2011, Heraklion Airport served 5,292,687 passengers, making it Greece's 2nd busiest airport.

Aegean Airlines, Cypus Airways and Olympic Airlines offer year round service to Heraklion Airport.

Airlines offering seasonal service include Aeroflot, Air Berlin, Austrian Airlines, Condor, EasyJet, Edelweiss Air, Germanwings, Hamburg Airways, Iberia, Israir Airlines, Jet2.com, Niki, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Sky Express, SmartWings, Thomas Cook, Transaero Airlines, Transavia.com, TUIfly, Vueling and Wizz Air.

Year-round service operates to Athens, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Larnaca, Rhodes and Thessaloniki. Cities with seasonal flights to HER include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Madrid, Marseille, Moscow, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Rhodes, Rome, Rotterdam, Santorini, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Vienna and Zürich.

Your bet bet for a Heraklion Airport transfer is the bus. Details on all options are included in this guide.

• Be a smart traveller and be in the know about some Internet at Heraklion Airport WiFi Connection and Security tips before you connect

During summer, the airport becomes very congested, and it is not uncommon for passengers waiting to check-in to queue outside the terminal.