The majority of travelers who visit Crete arrive by plane into either Chania or Heraklion Airports. Between April and October, there are many direct charter flights flying direct to Crete from most European countries, therefore saving time and avoiding having to change planes in Athens.

Chania airport is situated on the Akrotiri Peninsula about 20 minutes drive from the centre of Chania Town and 30 - 45 minutes drive from our villas in the Apokoronas area (just east of Chania Town) , and 45 – 50 minutes from our villas to the west of Chania Town. Chania airport has been extended but is still the smaller of the 2 airports and is the often the better option for our guests. It is a very easy airport to find your way around, it is less chaotic than Heraklion Airport, and closer to our holiday villas.

There are more flights to Heraklion than to Chania which means that the airport is much busier. The advantages to flying in and out of Heraklion airport can be the increased number of airports in Europe that you can fly in from, and the greater availability of seats, which in turn can lead to cheaper prices. Heraklion airport is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes drive from our villas. The vast majority of the very easy route is on the national highway which starts just 800m from the airport exit. The national highway follows the north coastline and the drive is therefore very scenic with the sea on your right hand side for most of the way. For most of the villas you exit the national highway at Kalives and then travel for about 10- 15 minutes on a smaller road/s until you arrive at your villa.

Anyone not travelling from countries with direct charter flights will need to take a scheduled international flight to Athens and then change planes to a scheduled domestic flight. There are many domestic flights a day from Athens to either Chania or Heraklion with Aegean Airlines or Olympic Airlines. Changing at Athens airport has become relatively easy since the new airport was opened a few years ago. If you have flown in with either Aegean or Olympic you should already have your boarding pass for your connecting plane and your luggage will be automatically transferred for you. If you are changing from a different airline you just collect your luggage and then go upstairs to check-in at either Aegean or Olympic.

Detailed information about Athens Airport can be found at the following link: https://www.aia.gr/traveler/airport-information/

For travellers who have a long lay-over at Athens Airport, they could leave their luggage so that they can go into the city centre to see the sites. The left luggage office is at the Arrivals hall next to Gate 1. Further information about the left luggage office at Athens Airport and fees for stored baggage can be found at the following link: http://www.care4bag.gr/

Domestic Scheduled Flights.

Anyone wanting more flexibility with flight times and arrival days, or anyone travelling from countries which do not have direct flights, may need to take a scheduled international flight to Athens and then change planes to a scheduled domestic flight. There are many domestic flights a day from Athens to either Chania or Heraklion with Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air. They merged in 2013 and Olympic is now a subsidiary of Aegean. Changing at Athens airport is relatively easy and if you have flown in with either Aegean or Olympic (or one of their Star Alliance partners) you should already have your boarding pass for your connecting plane and your luggage will be automatically transferred for you. If you are changing from a different airline you just collect your luggage and then go upstairs to check-in at either Aegean or Olympic.

Flight Companies.

When you are looking for flight seats we suggest that you try the following companies who sell airline tickets: