Chania International Airport

Chania International Airport
Chania International Airport, "Ioannis Daskalogiannis"
Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Χανίων
Ιωάννης Δασκαλογιάννης
Chania Airport NASA.jpg
IATA: CHQ – ICAO: LGSA
CHQ is located in Greece
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CHQ
Location of airport in Greece
Summary
Airport type Public/military
Location Chania
Elevation AMSL 490 ft / 149 m
Coordinates 35°31′54.29″N 24°08′58.84″E / 35.5317472°N 24.1496778°E / 35.5317472; 24.1496778Coordinates: 35°31′54.29″N 24°08′58.84″E / 35.5317472°N 24.1496778°E / 35.5317472; 24.1496778
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
11/29 10,982 3,347 Asphalt

Chania International Airport, "Ioannis 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 km away. Moreover, it is a gateway to western crete for an increasing amount of tourists. The airport is named after Ioannis Daskalogiannis, a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule in the 18th century and is a joint civil - military airport.

Contents

History

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.

Maleme (Military) Airport was constructed by the British Military, shortly before the Second World War. When the war was over, the facility was used as the main public airport of Chania.

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. In 1974 the airport also began to serve international flights. Because of insufficient capacity, ther was the need for a new terminal building. Eventually, in 1996, the new terminal was ready, measuring a surface area of 14,650 m2, 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.

Today, the airport hosts domestic flights to Athens and Thessaloniki, operated by Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines. During the summer season there are many charter flights from all over Europe. The airport is also intensively used by the Hellenic Air Force. [1][2][3]


Annual passenger throughput - 10 year history[4]

Year Flights Passengers
2001 12,931 1,428,982
2002 11,826 1,384,579
2003 13,974 1,479,653
2004 13,214 1,446,377
2005 13,060 1,512,769
2006 14,760 1,760,959
2007 15,430 1,882,834
2008 15,206 1,866,581
2009 16,014 1,795,466
2010 13,852 1,654,864

Transportation

The airport can be easily reached by car via the main road network. The city of Chania is an about 20 minutes drive away.

Other than by car, the facility is linked by airport busses to the city of Chania, from where transfer to other buses is possible. The airport busses depart 7 times daily. Journey time is about half an hour.

Passengers can also take a taxi to any destination acros the island. The taxi stand is located just outside the terminal. Taxi's operate as long as flights depart and arrive at the airport.[3]

Airlines and destinations

Chania Airport is served by the following scheduled airlines:

Airlines Destinations
Aegean Airlines Athens, Larnaca, Thessaloniki
Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Air Berlin Seasonal: Berlin-Tegel, Nürnberg
Air Finland Seasonal: Helsinki
Austrian Airlines operated by Lauda Air[5] Seasonal: Graz, Linz, Vienna
Astra Airlines Seasonal: Thessaloniki
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku
Belle Air Tirana
Blue Air Larnaca
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich
EasyJet Seasonal: London-Gatwick
Fly Hellas Seasonal: Bristol, Frankfurt, Izmir, Stockholm-Arlanda
Jetairfly Seasonal: Brussels
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Bergen, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm-Arlanda
Olympic Air Athens, Thessaloniki
Ryanair Seasonal: Frankfurt-Hahn, Leeds/Bradford [begins 31 March 2012], Milan-Bergamo, Oslo-Rygge [begins 27 March 2012], Wrocław [begins 30 March 2012]
Smart Wings Seasonal: Prague, Bratislava, Kosice
Thomson Airways Seasonal: London-Gatwick, Manchester
Transaero Airlines Moscow-Vnukovo
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam
TUIfly Nordic Seasonal: Billund, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Malmo, Oslo, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stockholm-Skavsta

Additionally, several airlines operate charter flights to the airport, including:

References

  1. ^ http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-west/EN-Maleme-airport-history.html History of Maleme
  2. ^ http://www.alxd.gr/AirportGuide/chania/chaniaE.html Greek Airports Guide
  3. ^ a b http://www.chania-airport.com Chania Airport website
  4. ^ http://www.hcaa.gr/up/files/stat_KAXN_2010_eng.xls Statistical data from the HCAA
  5. ^ https://www.laudaair.com/book/StartHtml.aspx?a=3&fplan=y&L=0&lang=DE Lauda Air timetable (retrieved 2009-08-31)

External links


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