Chania International Airport

Chania International Airport
"Daskalogiannis"

Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Χανίων, "Δασκαλογιάννης"
Summary
Airport typePublic/military
OwnerHellenic Civil Aviation Authority
OperatorFraport Greece
ServesChania, Crete
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL149 m / 490 ft
Coordinates35°31′54″N 024°08′59″E / 35.53167°N 24.14972°E / 35.53167; 24.14972
Websitechq-airport.gr
Map
CHQ is located in Greece
CHQ
CHQ
Location in Greece
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11L/29R 3,347 10,981 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers3,648,416
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 10.9%
Aircraft movements24,678
Aircraft movements changeIncrease 6.0%
Source: Fraport-Greece[1]

Chania International Airport "Daskalogiannis" (IATA: CHQ, ICAO: LGSA) is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away. It is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing number of tourists. The airport is named after Daskalogiannis, a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule in the 18th century, and is a joint civil–military airport. It is the sixth-busiest airport in Greece.

History

Aerial view
Terminal interior

The focus on civil aviation for the west of Crete has not always been on the current location. It was the airport of Maleme that served civil flights up to 1959, and dating back to the end of Second World War.[citation needed]

In 1959, this activity was transferred to the military airport of Souda. 1967 saw the construction of the first passenger terminal and parking space for two aircraft. [citation needed] In 1974, the airport also began to serve international flights. Because of insufficient capacity, there was the need for a new terminal building. Eventually, in 1996, the new terminal was ready, measuring a surface area of 14,650 square metres (157,700 sq ft), with 6 aircraft stands in front. It has a design capacity of 1.35 million passengers per year. In 2000, it was officially named Ioannis Daskalogiannis.

The airport is also intensively used as a military airfield by the Hellenic Air Force.[2][3]

In December 2015, the privatisation of Chania International Airport and 13 other regional airports of Greece was finalised with the signing of the agreement between the Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatisation fund.[4] According to the agreement, the joint venture will operate the 14 airports (including Chania International Airport) for 40 years as of 11 April 2017.

In June 2018[5] Fraport Greece completed the new aircraft layouts, which are now using push back to double the parking space. The passenger safety area has been expanded, the number of hand baggage scanners from 5 to 8, the duty-free store space trebled from 400 sq.m. to 1,200 sq. meters, the VIP space moved to increase the number of boarding gates from 14 to 16 and the dividing walls in the departure halls were removed in order to create a space of 3,000 sq. meters. A new sewage pumping station was built, and the network (approximately 3.5 km) was connected to the municipal network. Electromechanical installations, including new motor control centres (MCCs), wiring, lighting, and electrical panels, were optimized. The apron lighting was upgraded, and the water closets (WCs) were renovated to increase the number of toilets in the non-Schengen area. Additionally, the escalator was relocated to better utilize the available space.[6]

On June 10, 2018, Air Force One carrying U.S. President Donald Trump stopped for refuelling in Chania during Trump's flight from the G7 meeting in Quebec to the meeting in Singapore with the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un.[7]

Fraport Greece's investment plan

On 22 March 2017, Fraport Greece presented its master plan for the 14 Greek regional airports, including Chania International Airport.[8]

Immediate actions that will be implemented at the airports as soon as Fraport Greece takes over operations, before the summer of 2019:

  • General clean-up
  • Improving lighting, marking of airside areas
  • Upgrading sanitary facilities
  • Enhancing services and offering a new free Internet connection (WiFi)
  • Implementing works to improve fire safety in all the areas of the airports
  • Rearranging the terminal's internal utilization
  • Rearranging the departure gate lounge
  • Expanding the security control area
  • HBS (Hold Baggage Screening Systems) inline screening
  • Expanding the waste water treatment plant or connection to municipal service
  • Reorganizing the apron area
  • Refurbishing the airside pavement
  • 25 percent increase in the number of departure gates (from 8 to 10)
  • Doubling the number of security-check lanes (from 4 to 8)

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Chania Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens,[9] Thessaloniki[10]
Seasonal: Rhodes (begins 14 April 2025),[11] Tel Aviv[12]
Air Serbia Seasonal: Belgrade[13]
Animawings Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni[14]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna[citation needed]
Braathens International Airways Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[15] Östersund[16] Stockholm-Arlanda[16]
British Airways Seasonal: London–Heathrow[17]
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[18]
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf,[citation needed] Frankfurt,[citation needed] Hamburg (resumes 3 May 2025),[19] Leipzig/Halle,[citation needed] Munich[citation needed]
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt,[citation needed] Munich[citation needed]
easyJet Seasonal: Amsterdam[20] Basel/Mulhouse[21] Berlin,[citation needed] Bristol,[22] Glasgow,[citation needed] London–Gatwick,[citation needed] London–Luton,[citation needed] Lyon,[citation needed] Manchester,[citation needed] Milan–Malpensa,[citation needed] Nice[citation needed]
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zurich[citation needed]
Eurowings Seasonal: Düsseldorf,[23] Graz,[24] Hamburg,[25][26] Stuttgart[27]
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki[28]
flydubai Seasonal: Dubai–International (begins 23 June 2025)[citation needed]
Israir Airlines Seasonal: Tel Aviv[citation needed]
Jet2.com Seasonal: Birmingham,[citation needed] Bristol,[29] Leeds/Bradford,[citation needed] London–Stansted,[citation needed] Manchester,[citation needed] Newcastle upon Tyne[citation needed]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt[citation needed]
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg[30]
Marabu[31] Seasonal: Hamburg,[citation needed] Munich[citation needed]
Neos Seasonal: Milan-Malpensa (begins 24 May 2025)[32]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Bergen,[citation needed] Copenhagen,[citation needed] Helsinki,[citation needed] Oslo,[citation needed] Stockholm–Arlanda[citation needed]
Ryanair Paphos, Thessaloniki
Seasonal: Athens,[33] Bergamo,[citation needed] Birmingham,[34] Bologna,[35] Bournemouth (begins 2 June 2025),[36] Bucharest–Otopeni,[citation needed] Budapest,[citation needed] Charleroi,[citation needed] Dublin,[citation needed] East Midlands,[citation needed] Gdańsk,[citation needed] Hahn,[citation needed] Kraków,[citation needed] Leeds/Bradford,[citation needed] London–Stansted,[citation needed] Malta,[citation needed] Manchester,[citation needed] Marseille,[citation needed] Memmingen,[citation needed] Naples,[citation needed] Newcastle upon Tyne,[citation needed] Nuremberg,[citation needed] Pisa,[citation needed] Poznań,[citation needed] Rome–Fiumicino,[citation needed] Sofia,[citation needed] Stockholm–Arlanda,[citation needed] Tel Aviv,[citation needed] Treviso,[citation needed] Vienna,[37] Warsaw–Modlin,[citation needed] Weeze,[citation needed] Wrocław[citation needed]
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen,[38] Oslo,[38] Stockholm–Arlanda[38]
Seasonal charter:[citation needed] Aalborg,[39] Bergen,[citation needed] Bodø,[citation needed] Gothenburg,[citation needed] Haugesund,[citation needed] Kristiansand,[citation needed] Stavanger,[citation needed] Tromsø,[citation needed] Trondheim[citation needed]
Sky Express Athens
Seasonal charter: Brno (begins 8 June 2025)[40]
Smartwings Seasonal: Bratislava (begins 26 May 2025),[citation needed] Prague[citation needed]
Seasonal charter: Poznan (begins 1 June 2025),[41] Debrecen[42]
Sunclass Airlines[citation needed] Seasonal charter: Billund,[citation needed] Copenhagen,[citation needed] Gothenburg,[citation needed] Helsinki,[citation needed] Malmö,[citation needed] Oslo,[citation needed] Stavanger,[citation needed] Stockholm–Arlanda,[citation needed] Trondheim[citation needed]
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam,[43] Lyon (begins 20 April 2025),[44] Paris–Orly[45]
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham,[citation needed] London–Gatwick,[citation needed] Manchester[citation needed]
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels,[citation needed] Ostend/Bruges[citation needed]
TUI fly Netherlands[46] Seasonal: Amsterdam[citation needed]
TUI fly Nordic Seasonal charter: Copenhagen,[citation needed] Gothenburg,[citation needed] Norrköping,[47] Oslo,[citation needed] Stockholm–Arlanda[citation needed]
Tus Airways Seasonal: Larnaca[48]
Wizz Air Seasonal: Cluj-Napoca,[citation needed] Vienna,[citation needed] Warsaw–Chopin[citation needed]

Traffic figures

Annual passenger traffic at CHQ airport. See Wikidata query.

The data are from Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)[49] until 2016, and from 2017 and later from the official website of the airport.[50]

Year Passengers
Domestic International Total
1994 204,360 621,986 826,346
1995 Increase220,910 Increase669,516 Increase890,426
1996 Increase244,146 Decrease587,106 Decrease831,252
1997 Increase301,471 Increase622,689 Increase924,160
1998 Decrease292,504 Increase676,687 Increase969,191
1999 Increase414,429 Increase816,045 Increase1,230,474
2000 Increase515,093 Increase901,710 Increase1,416,803
2001 Decrease395,864 Increase1,033,118 Increase1,428,982
2002 Decrease331,521 Increase1,053,058 Decrease1,384,579
2003 Increase413,541 Increase1,066,112 Increase1,479,653
2004 Decrease382,224 Decrease1,064,153 Decrease1,446,377
2005 Increase401,141 Increase1,111,628 Increase1,512,769
2006 Increase437,403 Increase1,323,556 Increase1,760,959
2007 Increase514,318 Increase1,368,516 Increase1,882,834
2008 Increase522,658 Decrease1,343,923 Decrease1,866,581
2009 Increase575,687 Decrease1,219,779 Decrease1,795,466
2010 Decrease468,279 Decrease1,186,585 Decrease1,654,864
2011 Decrease449,211 Increase1,325,497 Increase1,774,708
2012 Decrease397,661 Increase1,435,313 Increase1,832,974
2013 Decrease379,280 Increase1,699,577 Increase2,078,857
2014 Increase578,286 Increase1,869,280 Increase2,447,566
2015 Increase827,190 Increase1,875,093 Increase2,702,283
2016 Increase881,031 Increase2,085,666 Increase2,966,697
2017 Decrease831,324 Increase2,111,085 Increase3,042,409
2018 Decrease646,723 Increase2,361,964 Decrease3,008,687
2019 Increase672,945 Decrease2,310,597 Decrease2,983,542
2020 Decrease295.385 Decrease408.097 Decrease703.482
2021 Increase454,298 Increase1,340,938 Increase1,795,236
2022 Increase678,845 Increase2,611,957 Increase3,290,802
2023 Increase828,793 Increase2,819,623 Increase3,648,416
2024(Nov) Increase829.374 Increase3.051.701 Increase3.881.075

Traffic statistics by country (2023)

Traffic by country at Chania International Airport – 2023
Place Country Total pax
1 Greece Greece 828.793
2 United Kingdom United Kingdom 482.708
3 Denmark Denmark 315.619
4 Germany Germany 312.716
5 Norway Norway 277.276
6 Poland Poland 257.793
7 Sweden Sweden 242.900
8 Finland Finland 205.623
9 Italy Italy 110.399
10 France France 83.004
11 Belgium Belgium 71.690
12 Austria Austria 68.582
13 Romania Romania 65.210
14 Cyprus Cyprus 61.049
15 Hungary Hungary 48.053

Source:[51]

Transportation to and from the airport

The airport can be easily reached by car, bus or taxi via the main road network.

See also

References

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  2. ^ "History of Maleme - Maleme Airfield - German War Cemetery at Maleme". explorecrete.com. 13 November 2014. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Greek Airports Guide". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Greece signs privatization of 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport - TornosNews.gr". Tornosnews.gr. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Το HANIA.news στο Αεροδρόμιο Χανίων – Εικόνες & βίντεο από τα έργα και τις αλλαγές". 23 April 2018. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Chania Airport "I. Daskalogiannis"". Greece Airports. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  7. ^ Herman, Steve (9 June 2018). "Trump Admits 'Unknown Territory' Awaits in Kim Summit". VOA. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
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  10. ^ "Aegean Airlines / Olympic Air NW23 Domestic Operation Changes". Aeroroutes. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Aegean Airlines launching Chania-Rhodes service from Apr-2025".
  12. ^ "AEGEAN to Launch Flights to Tel Aviv from Ioannina, Chania and Kalamata". 27 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Air Serbia to launch new destinations in Greece". 13 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Animawings: zboruri din București spre nouă destinații din Grecia în 2023". 26 October 2022. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  15. ^ "BRA NS24 Charter Program with Apollo / Spies / VING". Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
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  17. ^ "British Airways NS24 Gatwick / Heathrow European Frequency Changes – 21JAN24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
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  26. ^ "New Routes". eurowings.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
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  29. ^ "Jet2.com NS23 Network Additions – 04SEP22". AeroRoutes. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
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  44. ^ "Transavia France NS25 Network Additions – 22DEC24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  45. ^ Liu, Jim (27 April 2023). "Transavia France NS23 Leased Amelia A320 Operations – 25APR23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
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