We flew into/out of heraklion airport a couple of years ago and tbh, nothing stands out as being particularly bad. I'd say relax and go with the flow- like other airports things will be expensive (but not half as expensive as Dalaman airport) so either budget for it or take some food with you to eat at the airport.

We just got back from there on Sunday. Dreadful place, not enough seats so had to stand, long queues for the toilets, food the usualy overpriced rubbish you get in airports. It's just one of those things that has to be endured if you want to go anywhere these days.

Heraklion airport is no worse or no better than many Greek airports. Its probably a bit better as you are leaving in the evening so it wont be so hot, if you are with a tour operator you will probably have to queue outside, as they do tend to get you to the airport too early ..so do be prepared with bottles of water. You have to check your luggage in, and then queue again to have it scanned, and there is sometimes a huge queue to get through passport control, this is mainly due to the increase in the amount of Russians that are now visit Crete, and they have to have their passports stamped!! which of course holds up the queues..fingers crossed you havent got a Russian flight going out before yours.

There are a couple of places to buy basic rolls and soft drinks etc once you get through passport control - reasonably priced, and a small duty free shop, and loos and thats about it... Once you have checked in your luggage I would suggest you go straight to customs, get yourself a seat in the departure lounge (if poss) and then dont move!!!...

As ilovecrete says Heraklion Airport is just Greek really, so it's bound to be a little chaotic & obviously being small doesn't help.

Yep the Russians get held up but we had a flight at Easter the Greeks were even more officious with. ALBANIANS!! They even searched luggage & I've never seen that before.

The check-in & then re-queuing for scanning has improved over the years, as at one time everyone had to go through one scanner so the queue for that used to be halfway down the concourse, but now there are a couple in each section.

They used to have a bar up on the 1st floor landside i.e. before departure gate which was useful as it was quiet & also it had a window so that you could see how full the gate area was. It closed a few seasons ago but has reopened this year so we checked in early, sat up there, had a quiet drink, kept our eye on how busy the airside looked & then moved through when we needed to. Useful if you arrive & have time to kill.

Pete

I've been to Crete twice and both times landed in Heraklion airport.

The worst thing was the long queue on return trip but like 'shirley h' says, just take plenty of water, a snack to eat and enjoy the sun - basically relax, it's usually the end of your holiday so make the most of it. We usually end up chatting with people in the queue around us and having a laugh and joke.

The duty free shop is quite small though but we only went to browse as we had time to kill after checking in.

I must admit, the evening flights are a little better as you don't have to endure the heat - we returned in September and we thought that was hot, In July/August I can imagine it could get quite uncomfortable.

Heraklion airport is the worst way to leave the beautiful island of Crete. That's one reason why these days I always use Chania airport.....small, clean and modern.

We didn't find it to be any different to any other Greek airport, or many others in any other part of the world to be honest. As long as you've got a bottle of waer - you'll be fone. Don't stress about it - it's all part of the trip, and for us, the fantastic holiday far outweighs any niggles at the airport. Wherever you fly from people will always find problems if they want to

In my view Chania airport is no better or worse than Herkalion.....we could see an improvement in Herkalion airport as funds have been approved for the re development, and in a new location just inland off the north east coast....If I was allowed I would put a link on here to a Greek web site with all the information....so fingers crossed that we will have a better airport sometime in the future. but unfortunately no plans at the moment to improve the Chania airport

We flew out of Heraklion last week. Compared to other greek island airports its actually fairly large, clean and modern.(My recollections of some greek airports over last 10 years involve dirt smelly toilets, sitting on a grimy floor and some excuse for a sandwich I'd avoid at all costs)

The transfer coach got us to the airport just over 2 hours before flight time. The reps had the queues managed well so we queued outside for 10 minutes or so before going inside to check in. Check in was well managed and the queue for the luggage scanner moved quickly. There are actually a fair few shops and food outlets etc before security (more than at Manchester T1) and the toilets here were clean and modern.
As far as could tell there were 2 sets of departure gates each with their own security. The queue for security was large but well organised and plenty of staff. it moved quickly.

The departure lounge was very busy and crowded but lots of people started queuing (standing in line) at the gate as soon a they got in, which left seats free for others. The duty free shop is upstairs and quite large, the food outlet was expensive but again clean and well staffed - uniforms etc.

The gate opened ahead of schedule. We didn't join the line for the departure gate until it opened, the bus that took us to the plane was only half full and didn't hang around. The flight embarked quickly and left early.

All in all I'd say heraklion was great. We didn't feel rushed or stressed but weren't hanging around either.