Heraklion International Airport, "Nikos Kazantzakis"

Heraklion International Airport, "Nikos Kazantzakis" (IATA: HER, ICAO: LGIR) is the primary airport on the island of Crete, Greece and the country's second busiest airport after Athens International Airport. It is located about 5 km east of the main city center of Heraklion, near the municipality of Nea Alikarnassos. It is a shared civil/military facility and covers 21,000 square meters of surface. The airport is named after Heraklion native Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek writer and philosopher. The airport first opened in March 1939. This was then merely a piece of flat agricultural land. The first aeroplane (a Junkers Ju-52) carried the first passengers to the site. During the Second World War operations ceased, but in fall 1946 traffic...