Heraklion is the biggest city in Crete (and fifth in Greece) with a population in excess of 120000. It concentrates most of the economical activity of the island, and is the main port of entry to Crete for the majority of visitors. The Heraklion airport receives approximately 15% of the total tourist traffic of Greece.
Access
The Heraklion airport (HER), named after the Cretan writer Nikos Kazantzakis, is one of the biggest in Greece. There are many airlines currently operating flights from Athens and Thessaloniki to Heraklion, Olympic Airways, Aegean Airlines, Cronus and others while during the high season there are flights from/to Rhodes, Mykonos and Santorini. There is also an international airline,Transavia, that connects Heraklion to Amsterdam , Holland. Transavia has two flights per week , during the winter season, with more of these during the tourist period. During the summer season there are numerous chartered flights to Heraklion from all over Europe (mainly Germany, the United Kingdom , and Holland). During the summer months there is a huge increase in air traffic that peaks in August (approximately 130 flights per day).
Heraklion’s airport is about 5km east of the city. Major car-rental companies have desks at the airport. Taxi and public bus are available for trenfer to Heraklion.