International Airport Nikos Kazantzakis Reviews

It is a small airport, and there is not much to do or see. But it serves its' purpose.

Reported in early September. Small, a renovated part, we arrived around 10pm and it was not very busy. Friendly staff and quick checks for those who have only hand luggage. In the area where he was waiting to take the plane, 2 policemen went back and forth and stopped to stare at the people sitting. We waited many hours because our flight delayed more than two hours and it was a bit annoying to watch each passing time.

Airport that to call it a toilet is also too flattering. Dirt everywhere, disorganization, random checks, absurd prices

A small airport with no chairs available for passengers to have a seat and everything is closed except one cafe without tables and chairs outside.

The best international airport in Heraklion. If you want to go here you have to fly here.
Mei, nice approach, relatively quick handling and classic apron positions that give rise to aviator nostalgia ...

Forgivingly unacceptable for the second moving airport in the country!

Very bad ... just one switch open and coronavirus times ...

By far one of the worst airports I've been to as a frequent flyer. A tourist airport should be a showcase and not a deterrent. The airport is totally outdated, dark and desolate.
In times of Corona no disinfectant dispensers, no distance possible because it is completely overloaded, the soap is empty everywhere in the toilets, there is no paper and the dryers are switched off, the toilets also without toilet seats.

Every stay turns into an adventure. The few and too small sanitary facilities are very grubby. The check-in at the counter can proceed as follows: queuing for 1 hour to finally hand over the suitcase. This is only weighed and you get the air tickets. Then you have to drag his suitcase again to another switch to finally be able to deliver it there again after a long wait. Obviously, this airport is too small and not designed for such crowds. Unfortunately, this also has a negative effect on the friendliness of the service staff.

I would never choose this airport again. There is chaos everywhere, everything is outdated and without structure. Plus very dirty

incredibly horribly unstructured.. worst trolleys ever!

A little dirty
Odor-scented bathrooms

We went to Crete in August and after reading reviews of the airport were not looking forward to that experience. Pleasantly surprised on arriving into the airport, from getting off the plane to leaving the airport it took 30 minutes. No queues at passport control and luggage collection was fast.
Departure was a different story. Queues at check in were short but the guy checking us in was incredibly rude.
Security was fast but after security you walk into mayhem. It is so crowded, the queues for everything are long and you can barely move. We struggled to find the gate. Thankfully we had lounge passes and although small it was quiet and the staff were lovely.
The toilets were horrendous, the smell is awful and the lack of toilet seats was just horrific.
However, we loved Crete and it won't put us off going back.

The arrivals area is an absolute disaster!
Overcrowded, dirty, eternal waiting ...
Every public toilet is cleaner.
The departure area seems to have been renovated, is also relatively well maintained.
The waiting times on departure were normal.

The worst airport I've ever been to. Very low throughput, especially for the number of passengers, separation of the check-in from the x-ray (after labeling the suitcase, you must stand in a separate queue with it to pass through the scanner), skinny terminals. We were on vacation in October and there were real crowds and crowds at check-in. My partner got sick from the lack of fresh air in the queue to check-in, she had to sit down because she would faint on my hands. Hand luggage control had 2 (!) Positions. Fear to think what it looks like in the high season. The airport does not appear to be expanded in any way.

Definitely the worst aspect of a holiday in Crete, I recommend getting ready mentally.

Absolute 100% hellhole. Overcrowded, chaotic, bad organization, too small. After the security check: welcome in India.

Just got back from a week's holiday in Crete, had a great time but the airport is absolutely horrendous. Not one for writing negative reviews but feel in this circumstance I think it's only fair to inform other travellers. The luggage collection in arrivals had 3 flights coming in on to one carousel which is I suppose normal but when checking in to fly back home was the worst I've ever experienced !! I left the UK with my case weighing 18kg (allowance 20kg) have always made sure I'm under weight. Checked in my case and the rude spoken female staff said I was over at 21.5kg, how is that possible when I purchased nothing in Crete to fetch home ? How come my case was weighing 3.5kg more ? I had the choice to pay or remove items so removed a couple of things to then put back on the scales and all of a sudden it was 18kg. I believe this was a scam to try getting cash from innocent travellers. Please be aware of this experience when visiting this airport.

Nice airport with efficient staff! Clean toilets and pleasant shops with a wide choice.

Upon arrival I was disappointed to find that the check in desk for the Jet2 flight to East Midlands Airport was not listed on any screens, and it was taking off within 1 1/2 hours. It took 25 minutes of wandering up and down to find the desk, and when I arrived I was met with staff who gave no assistance on where to go next. It turned out that at the opposite end of the airport, without any signage, was the x-ray, hand luggage check place. Thankfully the staff there were a little more accommodating. Unfortunately at the specified gate there were only about 20 seats for the entire passenger quota of my flight to sit on before boarding. Furthermore there was a lack of (or not functioning ) air conditioning.

All in all for my first trip through Heraklion airport...
Staff 2.5 / 5
General Cleanliness 3/5
Comforts (seats, aircon etc) 1.5/5

By the way, the rest of Crete is wonderful, do not let the airport convince you to go elsewhere.

Not a great airport for luggage check in, make you queue up to have it weighed and labelled, then fight your way through the people waiting behind you to join another queue to hand the bag in, they snap at you if you try to cut through the barrier instead of walking all the way round. More relaxed after all this, but not much in the airport :-/

The airport has a good signpost, there are also plenty of toilets, friendly staff. You do have to keep a close eye on the signs yourself.

Small airport, lots of people in July so difficult to get around.

Nothing after the controls, door B there are fastfoods and nothing at all. Even no chair to sit down ... in short hard to understand how they wish to leave a good last impression. Staggered flight in addition we will have to wait 4 hours sitting on the ground. There is more and more tourist competition with Turkey we were told ....

Like airports, this time it may not be as crowded but you hardly notice it.

Terrible dirty airport. Have not seen such terrible toilets in life. One hardly dares to touch anything.

The check in is a bit complicated and dim witted to a certain extent. Queue for check in, queue for baggage, queue to have you boarding passes checked, queue for passport control and hand luggage scanning. Nothing but queuing. The duty free and food services are smaller with less chance than zante, which is puzzling considering its a much bigger airport.

The airport has been completely scrapped. All Third World airports I've seen so far have been in better shape. In addition completely disorganized, even the clocks at the airport go wrong (at an airport!). Only the duty-free area makes a decent impression, the offer is good and not too expensive.

It is a shame, the supposed face lift and expansion was all about making a huge last minute shopping mall for some 'entrepreneurs'. What a ridiculous way of seeing infrastructure.

It's really amazing how these employees do and the system works with so many hits ... in such a small airport ...

No aircondition and sickly hot inside.. Long waiting time for passport check to fly out. Just terrible experience. Better to go Chania..!

Unfortunately, most, if not all airports on the Greek islands look like this. What is the climate they have to unfortunately get used to?

He wants a lot of work. It should be much better if you think of how many tourists are coming from there every year.

Arrival was unspectacular and relatively quick. Departure was rather problematic. However, I cannot fully understand catastrophic (as others call it). But it is certainly bad to insufficient. Now in October the halls are overcrowded. How does it have to be in high season !? Staff go out of their way. The airport certainly needs to be adapted to the number of travelers. My personal shortcomings: Air conditioning is set to freezing cold. Check-in or queue stand for boarding and then again to scan the luggage. Then through the personal check / scan, ergo, 3x scan check queue = processes are suboptimal. Just a stall to buy food / drink. Process: Select the goods and then continue to the cash register line. It takes patience to dial into the WLAN. Water bottle in the backpack was discovered, but the security people talked to each other and in the end this was forgotten. Not to grind if there was any dangerous content in the bottle. Conclusion: in autumn 2017 this is an overwhelmed airport. Positive: somehow the whole atmosphere was very relaxed.

Sometimes comes across unorganized when you check in ... otherwise bright and lots of shopping opportunities

What an irritating people to the control, unprofessional, rude, you have to live off the tourists. You give a bad ending to a great holiday.

The entrance hall was a bit dirty, but then everything was all right. For me, 4 stars.

Poorly organised. Unclean. Very few food options. Insufficient seating.

A third world airport, far too small for the number of passengers with poor facilities- spend as little time here as possible

Unfriendly staff. Had to pay for our hand luggage because the lady at the counter is uninformed! Rip off tourists ... Unfortunately ....

OMG! Catastrophe. Already on arrival you could see that the plaster is crumbling off the walls at this airport ... Fortunately we booked the VIP service on departure and thus saved ourselves misery ... but on the way to the gate and security then it started. Long queues, completely overcrowded and far too few seats. The whole staff (except in the lounge) is super conceited and unfriendly. A big minus point is that the lounge does not have its own toilets and you have to walk across the crowded airport. The toilets are a disaster. Urine on the floor, paper everywhere on the floor and so on. When we were finally at the gate, the next surprise came: there was only the bus transfer to the plane. I was terrified of death on the apron. Traffic rules are apparently only for decoration at this airport, and rust and loose cladding everywhere on the bus. When we finally got on the plane, we were glad we had survived. But that's not all. When we landed in Hamburg, none of our three suitcases came with us. Apparently lay overwhelmed by the staff in Crete.
I advise everyone to avoid this airport.

Welcome to the stone age. Such a beautiful island ... But this airport is ruining your vacation. How can an island that lives 80% from tourism manage such a badly organized airport ??? It is best to be there 3 hours before departure.

Everything went very quickly, check-in, boarding and to the plane.

Long waitikg time at checkin, bad air condition. Only positive is car rental.

I've never had such a bad toilet on the way there and back, like here at the airport.

Comment for Everest snacking:

We do not know how to put zero otherwise I would have done, rush of lunch, staff exceeded and unpleasant. Pizza not cooked, really not good.

When you arrive, the first impression is sober, but when you fly home, the airport is modern.

A small airport plus, good duty fruit, courteous service, food medium but warm because no air conditioners and the smell of sweat washes around the place

I was warned about this airport but found it no worse than Kos, or in fact any Greek airport. I did fly late and assume this made a difference. The staff seemed friendly and effective considering the old fashioned equipment. One word of warning though, the drinks prices are hilariously inconsistent. A bottle of Fanta in departures restaurant was 4.20! While upstairs the same bottle was 1.60, so walk up the stairs. Oh, one other note for smokers. There is NOT a place to smoke once through security, so smoke before you go through.

Worst ever airport and staff i experienced. BHS not connected with check-in. Very poor management of passanger traffic in departures. Airport stuff do not care if you miss your flight.

Crowded. Extremely long queues. Bad check in system. Old and ugly. Ok security checks though.

Extremely dirty airport, a lot of garbage all over the floor and the most disgusting toilets ever. Here is not a single flush and it has not been cleaned for ages. From the front to the back dirty, in addition the (for airport relatively) extremely high prices and no selection as regards catering.

I have used many airports before but have never seen such a mess and a complete lack of organization before. We changed our Gate twice when we approached the check-in. Crowd everywhere, no place to stand normally, let alone sit anywhere. I'm just glad that the luggage came with us :)

Check-in hall from the previous century. Long queues, but the service of the staff as far as possible. Only after checking in and going to the departure lounge is the place renovated. The toilets leave a lot to be desired.

Very hot, very little staff to record and very little seating, even in snacks!

Surprised, however, then rested in a place so crazy bad airport. The fact that it is small, it could already be a bonus, but the airport is very dirty, the ventilation is so awkward that you have to look for a winter hat, entering the airport toilet from the smell of wanting to enter the field. A very unfriendly place for a child.

Some times under the day too much people inside in airport .You can buy manu things from shops

Poor cleaning service, little kindness from the staff and great confusion. Obviously delays almost on all flights. Surely it is not an airport suitable for managing such a large flow of tourists.

Today the employees of security at the baggage controls stole a wood toy of my Kid. I think this Is embarassing and their work should be focused on guaranteeing security and not only bothering people. The two employees were 2 women with blonde/ red hair who had anything else to do than checking my bag twice. Thank you in advance for training them to have more respects for Kids and families.

A bit dirty but otherwise all right. Including rental car return, luggage delivery / check-in and security control, we needed with four people about half an hour.

Very old airport. Staff totally unfriendly and overwhelmed. Toilets are underground as is the departure lounge. Grade 6

Pure chaos! Three flights at one counter, suddenly there is a change in between, then nothing happens at first. But what should you do other than bring enough time and stay relaxed.

Medium-sized airport overtaken by tourist traffic. Departure one evening in early September, and still many passengers! It is not functional, a counter to register his luggage, a second to pay the excess weight, return to validate the registration at the first counter. And finally go to a third counter put your luggage on the treadmill ... it's not modern and functional. Not to mention the dirty toilets on the ground floor and in the departure lounge ...

Cozy structure with everything you need to stay for several hours. Free wifi and touch stations.

A little AIrport on the Island of Crete. You must drive to the Plane with a bus. The toilets aren`t very clean. When you arrives you need to wait a time to get your luggage. The duty free shop are a normal duty free shop without special things. The Airport is a little bit old.

Astonishingly disorganised airport with even less caring staff. Ignoring for a moment the complete and utter lack of seating and customer regulations in this airport, the plane was loaded sloppily with little regard for children or the elderly. When we were finally on the plane, the Easyjet stewardesses were struggling to get the flight off on time due to the airport staff interfering in the most ridiculous and arbitrary of ways. Even the captain had to ask them to get off or risk delaying the flight more than it already was! I don't like complaining about staff, especially in a country like this, but their conduct was just negligent and severely puts us off using it again.

We departed from Heraklion Airport last week of October and we had none of the issues described in the other reviews.

We arrived 2 and a half hrs before flight, flying easyjet to Gatwick. We had no queue for checkin/bag drop straight to the desk. Then you carry your bags a few desks away to have them x rayed and they are taken from you there and only one person in front of us in the queue.
We were directed to a 2nd security search which was empty comoared to the otger one for ither flights which also had a separate departure lounge. Security Search we went straight through.

So from arriving at the airport Bag Drop and through to the departure lounge with 2 kids in tow took us about 25mins.

In the departure lounge they have a good duty free for the usual duty free stuff, I was expecting something awful given the reviews here so I was plesently suprised.

Catering wise there is a snack bar with pizza and sandwiches and crisps and drinks. Gets busy so if in a rush take you own. The upstairs restaurant was not open.

The airport is hot though.

the worst experience ever for an airport, avoide at all costs

Disinformation of which positions are check-in, no information on the monitors ..
Luggage in addition to the occurence at the check-in should be taken for x-ray in another place.
On the plus side you have to admit duty free, you can see the newly renovated.
Minus toilets without water clogged and smelly worse than in nightclubs. Lack of information about gates (only one monitor at the entrance ..) and poor sound system (maybe in the duty-free alley they heard something ..)

I recommend you be careful where you smoke the guards scream immediately! treated very bad ... airport very disorganized and dirty, exaggerated near ... bad

Carefull at the Everest Coffee Shop at the gates. Watch your change...