- HER Airport is days away from surpassing 10 million passengers
- November posted 97,023 arrivals with strong domestic and international growth
- Facilities remain among the worst in Europe: filthy toilets, broken fixtures, overcrowded halls
- Argophilia has highlighted these issues since October 2024
- The new Kasteli Airport faces legendary Cretan delays and sits on an earthquake fault line
Record Traffic, Record Problems
Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” is experiencing the biggest year in its history.
From January through November 2025, the airport handled 9,870,899 passengers, and with December typically adding between 200,000 and 250,000 more, the jump past the 10-million-passenger threshold is guaranteed.
November alone delivered 97,023 international arrivals and a 43.56% surge in off-season tourism. Domestic travel remained dominant, with 72,240 arrivals supporting the airport through the winter months. Germany led the international markets, followed by France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, and steady traffic from Tirana and Turkey.
On paper, it is a success story.
In reality, it is a contradiction.
Because while the numbers soar, the airport itself remains one of the lowest-rated major terminals in Europe, operating far beyond capacity and far below acceptable standards.
Sanitation Still at Rock Bottom — Nothing Has Changed Since 2024
Argophilia first reported the airport’s structural and hygiene problems in October 2024, documenting the conditions many travelers described as “unbelievable for an EU airport.”
After our inspection last week, we can confirm the following:
nothing has changed.
Toilets remain in deplorable condition
- strong urine smell
- trash on floors
- missing toilet paper
- broken toilet seats or none at all
- empty or missing soap dispensers
- urinals in shocking condition
One traveler wrote:
“There is no toilet paper, the toilets smell of urine, and the lounge should not be called a lounge.”
Another added:
“A putrid stench, trash everywhere, horrific bathrooms, and unprofessional security.”
A third traveler described the terminal as:
“crowded, dirty, outdated — like being back in 1995.”
And for many travelers, the experience causes physical discomfort:
dizziness, overheating, lack of ventilation, and nowhere to sit — or even stand comfortably.
Overcrowding, Weak AC, and Endless Loud Announcements
Even in November, the airport is packed beyond what the space can realistically support.
Passengers report:
- suffocating crowds
- weak or barely functioning air conditioning
- last-call announcements blasting every two minutes
- narrow corridors and jammed waiting areas
- luggage rooms unable to absorb traffic
A single bright spot keeps appearing in reviews:
the Crete in a Bag shop, with Elena and Silia offering genuine Cretan hospitality in a terminal that offers very little of it.
When the best thing about your airport is one shop, the message is loud and clear.
Cretan Delays and the Mythical New Airport
Officials keep promising relief through the future Kasteli Airport — a massive new terminal meant to handle up to 15–18 million passengers a year.
But this is Crete.
And Crete has its own relationship with time.
People politely nod at announcements the same way they nod at someone predicting the weather in 2050. Cretans know how these things work. Projects take time — lots of time.
Epic delays are practically a local tradition.
And then there is the best detail no one talks about loudly:
Kasteli Airport is being built on an earthquake fault line.
Of course it is.
Where else would we put a new airport in Crete?
This is the island where people feel a 5.0 quake and say,
“Καλά είμαστε, μικρό ήταν.”
“We’re fine, it was small.”
So yes, Kasteli is coming — someday.
But Heraklion Airport might reach 15 million passengers before the new terminal gets its windows installed.
Until then, travelers will continue flooding into a facility that feels like a time capsule from the late 20th century.
And Then Came the Bomb Threat
As if overcrowding, filthy toilets, and outdated infrastructure were not enough,
Heraklion Airport also faced a bomb threat on December 1 — prompting evacuations, delays, and the predictable chaos that occurs when an already overstressed terminal is forced into emergency mode.
Passengers described confusion, limited instructions, and long waits outside the building.
The threat turned out to be false, but the incident exposed once again how little margin the airport has for anything unexpected.
When the facility is already operating at its limit on a normal day, a security scare becomes a full system collapse.
It was the perfect metaphor for “Nikos Kazantzakis”:
record numbers above, crumbling reality below, and emergencies handled inside a space that barely functions even without them.
Crete Deserves Better
Heraklion is one of the most important gateways of the Mediterranean —
yet its infrastructure fails the millions of travelers who pass through each year.
The numbers say growth.
The bathrooms say collapse.
The crowds say “enough.”
The people of Crete say “we deserve more.”
And until Kasteli becomes reality —
whenever that reality finally arrives —
the island’s booming tourism will continue squeezing through one of the most outdated airports in Europe.
