Heraklion or Chania Airport? The Honest Answer on Where to Fly Into Crete
Heraklion handles more than twice Chania's passengers and sits minutes from its city; Chania is smaller, calmer and on the wrong side of town for the western resorts. Which one to book depends on where you are staying — and a new airport is on the way.
Crete has two airports that matter, and the right one is simply the one on your side of the island. Heraklion (HER) is the big one, minutes from its city, and the gateway to the centre and the east. Chania (CHQ) is smaller and calmer, out on the Akrotiri peninsula, and the gateway to the west. A cheap fare into the “wrong” airport costs a drive of a little over two hours each way. Passenger figures, bus details and the Kastelli timetable below come from the airports’ published information, Greek press reports of official data and the Municipality of Heraklion, checked in September 2026; transfer times are the ones in our airport guides.
The honest facts
- Heraklion (HER)
- about 5 km east of the city centre; 10.03 million passengers in 2025, its first year over 10 million.
- Chania (CHQ)
- on the Akrotiri peninsula, about 16 km and 25 minutes by road from Chania town; 4.15 million passengers in 2025.
- Between them
- route planners put HER to Chania at a little over two hours by car on the national road.
- Buses
- at CHQ, KTEL to Chania and Rethymno, stop across from Departures, tickets from the driver; at HER, city buses into Heraklion and KTEL lines to Agios Nikolaos, Ierapetra and Sitia.
- Sitia
- a small airport with domestic flights only — about 21,000 passengers in 2024.
- Kastelli
- the new Heraklion airport, targeted to be fully operational by November 2028.
Heraklion: big, close, busy
Heraklion’s advantage is position. It sits on the edge of the city, the resort strip of Hersonissos, Stalis and Malia is 25 to 40 minutes east, and Agios Nikolaos and Elounda are within reach on the highway. The disadvantage is size: a terminal extended in 2018 now handles well over ten million passengers a year, and on summer peak days it is crowded. Allow time. The practical details of getting from HER to the resorts — taxi, transfer or bus — are in Heraklion airport to Hersonissos, Stalis and Malia, and a night arrival has its own plan in landing late in Heraklion.
Chania: calmer, but on the wrong side of town
Chania’s airport is the easier place to land, with far fewer passengers, but it sits east of the city on the Akrotiri peninsula, so every transfer to the western resorts starts by going around Chania. That is why a resort described as “twenty minutes from the airport” can take closer to fifty. For Apokoronas, east of the city, the drive at least never has to cross Chania. Our Chania airport guide has the times resort by resort.
When the cheaper airport is worth it
Sometimes the fare difference is large enough to tempt you across the island. Before booking, count the real cost: two drives of more than two hours on the national road, fuel or a transfer, and the first and last afternoons of the holiday. For a week, it rarely pays; for a longer trip that covers both halves of the island, it can — fly into one and out of the other. If you have not decided which half to stay in, start with East or West Crete.
Kastelli, and why it does not matter yet
A new airport for Heraklion is being built at Kastelli, south-east of the city. In August 2026 the infrastructure minister said it should be fully operational by November 2028, with construction about 76% complete; the switch from the current airport is planned as a single overnight move. Until then, map apps showing construction updates change nothing: a booking to Heraklion lands at HER.
The honest downside
Heraklion’s crowds in July and August are real, and Chania’s position adds time to every western transfer. Bus timetables at both change with the season — check them close to travel rather than relying on anything printed months ahead.
Fly into Heraklion if: you are staying on the resort strip, in Heraklion, or anywhere east — Agios Nikolaos, Elounda, Sitia, Ierapetra. Fly into Chania if: you are staying in Chania, the western beaches, Kissamos, Apokoronas or the south-west.
Photos on this page: Heraklion’s terminal by Jcornelius and the Kastelli construction site by Manolis159 (both CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized for the web. Passenger figures, bus information and the Kastelli timetable were checked against the airports’ published information, Greek press reports of official data and the Municipality of Heraklion for the date shown at the top of this guide; transfer times are the figures in our Heraklion (August 2026) and Chania (September 2026) airport guides. Nobody pays to be featured in a guide — no business, no sponsor, no paid mention, ever. Adverts, where they appear, are labelled as adverts.
-
Two main airports, one small, one coming — Heraklion and Chania carry almost all international traffic; Sitia is small and domestic; Kastelli is under construction.
1 Heraklion airport (HER) 2 Chania airport (CHQ) 3 Sitia airport 4 New Heraklion airport at Kastelli (under construction)
Tap a name to open it in your map app. These are options, not an order — pick by the day you have.
Is it better to fly into Heraklion or Chania?
Fly into the airport on your side of the island. Heraklion suits the centre and the east — the resort strip, Agios Nikolaos, Elounda, Sitia. Chania suits the west — Chania town, the Platanias strip, Kissamos and Apokoronas. The two are a little over two hours apart by road.
Which airport is busier, Heraklion or Chania?
Heraklion, by far. It handled just over 10 million passengers in 2025, its first year above that mark, against about 4.15 million at Chania — roughly two and a half times as many. Expect longer queues at Heraklion on peak summer days.
How far is each airport from its city?
Heraklion airport sits about 5 km east of the city centre. Chania airport is out on the Akrotiri peninsula, about 16 km and roughly 25 minutes by road from Chania town, east of the city — which lengthens transfers to the western resorts.
Is there a bus from Chania and Heraklion airports?
Yes. At Chania, KTEL buses run to Chania and Rethymno from a stop across from Departures, with tickets sold by the driver. At Heraklion, city buses run into town, and KTEL lines to Agios Nikolaos, Ierapetra and Sitia call at the airport. Timetables change with the season.
When will the new Kastelli airport open?
Not before late 2028. In August 2026 Greece's infrastructure minister said the new Heraklion airport at Kastelli should be fully operational by November 2028, with construction about 76% complete. Until then, every Heraklion booking lands at the current airport, code HER.
One email a month — only when something on this island actually changes. No spam, no partners, one-click unsubscribe. Read past issues before you decide.