It is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing number of tourists. The airport is named after Daskalogiannis , a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule in the 18th century, and is a joint civilβmilitary airport. It is the sixth-busiest airport in Greece. 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 , and dating back to the end of Second World War. In , this activity was transferred to the military airport of Souda. Because of insufficient capacity, there was the need for a new terminal building. Eventually, in , the new terminal was ready, measuring a surface area of 14, square metres , sq ft , with 6 aircraft stands in front. It has a design capacity of 1.
In , it was officially named Ioannis Daskalogiannis. The airport is also intensively used as a military airfield by the Hellenic Air Force. In June [ 5 ] Fraport Greece completed the new aircraft layouts, which are now using push back to double the parking space. The passenger safety area has been expanded, the number of hand baggage scanners from 5 to 8, the duty-free store space trebled from sq.
A new sewage pumping station was built, and the network approximately 3. Electromechanical installations, including new motor control centres MCCs , wiring, lighting, and electrical panels, were optimized.
The apron lighting was upgraded, and the water closets WCs were renovated to increase the number of toilets in the non-Schengen area. Additionally, the escalator was relocated to better utilize the available space. Immediate actions that will be implemented at the airports as soon as Fraport Greece takes over operations, before the summer of The data are from Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority CAA [ 50 ] until , and from and later from the official website of the airport.
