As we announced last year, Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (IATA: HER, ICAO: LGIR) will close for a week because of runaway work.
The airport will be closed from February 19 to 24, thus no flights will operate.
According to media sources on Monday, the Heraklion airport on the island of Crete will close for five days in February to replace the runway’s tarmac.
The project is considered complicated but absolutely necessary. It is to be completed at record speed to minimize delays to airport operations. The closure duration is the minimum required to complete the essential asphalt repair work on the Heraklio airport runway.
According to official announcements, the appropriate NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) authorizing the shutdown has already been issued.
Travellers who want to get to and from Heraklio will have to take ferries or fly into Chania or Sitia: Giorgos Pliakas, the airport manager, told CRETA Television that around 800 meters of the runway would be paved. Passengers will be redirected to Chania International Airport “Daskalogiannis” (IATA: CHQ, ICAO: LGSA) and Sitia Public Airport “Vitsentzos Kornaros” (IATA: JSH, ICAO: LGST) during this time.
The administration has already addressed Heraklion Airport’s long-standing air conditioning issues, with a budget of around two million Euros for replacing already built AC units. During a meeting with Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Christina Alexopoulou last year, Mr. Pliakas sought lighting improvements and additional airport staff support.