Heraklion (HER) vs Chania (CHQ): Comparing Crete's Airports

Crete has two airports worth flying into, and the choice is worth five minutes of your time because getting it wrong can add two hours of driving to the start of your holiday. Heraklion (HER) sits in the centre of the north coast, Chania (CHQ) sits 150 km west of it, and the right answer is simply whichever one is closer to where you are sleeping. Below are the numbers behind that decision.

Which Crete airport is better?

Neither is better in the abstract, and any guide that tells you otherwise is selling something. What is true is that they are different sizes with different route networks:

• Heraklion (HER) handled 10,033,151 passengers in 2025, its first year above ten million, up from 9,384,233 in 2024 and 8,723,031 in 2023. It is the second busiest airport in Greece after Athens.
• Chania (CHQ) handled 3,952,126 passengers in 2024, an 8.3 % rise on 2023, and had already passed 3,992,149 by the end of October 2025.

Heraklion is therefore roughly two and a half times the size, which is what gives it more airlines, more destinations and a longer operating season. Chania is the quieter airport to pass through, and for a lot of travellers that is a feature rather than a drawback.

Fly into Heraklion for central and eastern Crete

HER is the natural gateway if you are staying in Heraklion itself, at Knossos, along the northern resort strip at Hersonissos, Stalis or Malia, or further east around Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and Sitia. The airport is only 5 km east of the city centre, so the transfer into town is short enough to do by bus.

Typical drives from the terminal:

• Heraklion city centre: about 15 minutes.
• Hersonissos: about 25 minutes.
• Malia: 34.6 km, about 32 minutes.
• Agios Nikolaos: 59.9 km, about 48 minutes.
• Rethymno: 81.6 km, about 1 hour 6 minutes.
• Chania town: 142 km, about 1 hour 53 minutes.

Details on each option are in our guides to getting from the airport to the city centre, the airport bus, and taxis and private transfers.

Fly into Chania for western Crete

CHQ is the closer airport for Chania town, the Venetian harbour, the Samaria Gorge and the west-coast beaches that people plan whole trips around: Balos, Falassarna and Elafonissi. The airport sits on the Akrotiri peninsula by Souda Bay, 14 km from Chania, so the transfer is slightly longer than Heraklion’s but still short.

If your accommodation is west of Rethymno, flying into Heraklion means driving past Chania airport to reach it. That is the single most common and most expensive mistake in Crete trip planning.

Rethymno: the genuine toss-up

Rethymno sits almost exactly between the two, which is why it comes up in every airport debate. From Heraklion it is 81.6 km, roughly an hour and five minutes. From Chania it is closer to 60 km, around 50 minutes. Chania wins on distance, but the gap is small enough that a cheaper or better-timed flight into Heraklion is usually the better overall trade. Decide on the flight, not on the map, when Rethymno is your base.

Size, runways and who runs them

The two airports are structured quite differently, and it explains a lot about how they feel:

• Heraklion has two runways, 09/27 at 2,714 m and 12/30 at 1,566 m, and operates as a shared civil and military facility owned by the Greek state.
• Chania has a single runway, 11L/29R, at 3,347 m. That makes Chania’s runway longer than either of Heraklion’s, which surprises people who assume the busier airport must be the bigger one in every respect.

Ownership is where a persistent myth lives. Chania is one of the 14 Greek regional airports run by Fraport Greece under a 40-year concession that began on 11 April 2017. Heraklion is not part of that concession. It remains state-run, which is why you will find no Fraport branding at HER, and why guides that describe Heraklion as a Fraport airport are simply wrong. The two airports on the same island, under different management, are the source of nearly all the confusion on this point.

Flights, seasons and fares

Both airports live off summer tourism, but not to the same degree. Chania’s international network is overwhelmingly seasonal: most routes run roughly April to November and thin out sharply in winter, leaving year-round domestic flights to Athens and Thessaloniki as the backbone. Heraklion, being larger, keeps a wider spread of routes and carriers, and its winter timetable is less bare.

That difference shows up in what you pay. More competing airlines on the same city pairs generally means more choice of departure time and, on average, lower fares into Heraklion, though on any given week a charter into Chania can undercut it. Check both before booking; the price gap is often larger than the driving time difference. Our airlines page lists who flies into HER, and the live arrivals and departures board shows what is operating today.

Arriving in winter

Out of season the calculation changes. With Chania’s international routes largely paused, Heraklion is frequently the only sensible way onto the island from most of Europe, sometimes via Athens. If you are visiting Crete between December and March, start your search at Heraklion and treat Chania as the exception rather than the default.

Which should you book?

A short decision list:

• Staying between Heraklion and Sitia, including Hersonissos, Malia, Agios Nikolaos or Elounda: Heraklion.
• Staying in or west of Chania, or planning your trip around Balos, Falassarna, Elafonissi or Samaria: Chania.
• Staying in Rethymno: whichever flight is cheaper or better timed; Chania is marginally closer.
• Travelling in winter: Heraklion, because Chania’s seasonal routes are mostly not flying.
• Touring the whole island by car: Heraklion, as the central position cuts total driving, and you can fly out of the other airport if the fare works.

One practical note for island-wide trips: flying into one airport and out of the other is entirely normal, and most car hire firms on Crete allow one-way rentals between HER and CHQ for a fee. Price it up before you dismiss it, because it can save half a day of backtracking.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chania or Heraklion airport better?
Whichever is nearer your accommodation. Heraklion is the larger airport with more routes and year-round flights; Chania is smaller, quieter and closer to western Crete.

Which Crete airport is bigger?
Heraklion, by passengers: 10,033,151 in 2025 against just under 4 million at Chania. Chania has the longer single runway, at 3,347 m.

Is it better to fly to Chania or Heraklion for Rethymno?
Chania is a little closer, about 60 km against 81.6 km, but the difference is around fifteen minutes of driving. Book on flight price and timing.

How far apart are the two airports?
About 150 km along the north coast, which is roughly two hours by road.

Does Fraport run Heraklion Airport?
No. Fraport Greece operates Chania and 13 other Greek regional airports under a concession that started in April 2017. Heraklion is state-run and is not in that group.

Can I fly into one Cretan airport and out of the other?
Yes, and it is common on touring trips. Most car hire companies permit one-way rentals between the two for an extra charge.