# Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport (HER)

> Heraklion, GR · IATA: HER · ICAO: LGIR · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `HER` |
| ICAO | `LGIR` |
| City | Heraklion |
| Country | GR |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 35 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | 35.33970, 25.18030 |

## Description

An airport with a successor already under construction: Heraklion «Nikos Kazantzakis» Airport (IATA: HER, ICAO: LGIR) is expected to hand over to the new airport at Kastelli, some 40 kilometres to the south-east, around 2028. Until then, Crete's main gateway remains Greece's second-busiest airport, with around 10 million passengers in 2025, almost entirely leisure traffic from across Europe; Fraport Greece has operated the site since 2017. Named after the Cretan writer Nikos Kazantzakis, author of «Zorba the Greek», the airport sits right on the coast just east of the island's capital. For freight, Heraklion is a niche location: Goldair Handling provides full cargo and mail handling on site, but volumes remain small – mainly express shipments, spare parts for the hotel industry and seasonal bellyhold loads. The bulk of Crete's logistics moves by sea: fresh vegetables, olives and olive oil leave the island on overnight ferries from Heraklion port to Piraeus, where trucks take over distribution, and even airfreight-bound exports are normally trucked onward to Athens. Forwarders planning shipments to Crete therefore treat ATH plus ferry as the standard routing, reserving direct uplift via HER for time-critical small consignments.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/heraklion-international-nikos-kazantzakis-airport-her](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/heraklion-international-nikos-kazantzakis-airport-her)*

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