Transport
Chania is 14 km down the hill: a fixed €30 by taxi or €2.50 on the KTEL airport bus to the city bus station. Platanias and Agia Marina are about €42 by taxi; Rethymno an hour east, usually by pre-booked transfer.
Read more: TransportGuide to Chania Airport
Chania Airport “Ioannis Daskalogiannis” (CHQ) sits on the Akrotiri peninsula, about 14 km north-east of Chania, on a plateau above Souda Bay that it shares with a Hellenic Air Force base. It is the second airport of Crete with around three million passengers a year, nearly all of them between April and October, and the gateway to western Crete: Chania’s Venetian harbour, the Platanias resort strip, the Samaria gorge and the beaches of Elafonisi and Balos.
Fraport Greece rebuilt the terminal in 2020–2021: one building, arrivals and departures on separate sides, with the bus stop, taxi rank and car park all within a short walk of the doors. The plateau catches the wind, and the drive down to Chania passes the Akrotiri monasteries and the Venizelos graves with the best view of the White Mountains on the island.
Parking
The car park is in front of the terminal, from about €3 an hour or €10 a day, with room to spare outside August. Private car parks on the Akrotiri road are cheaper for a week and shuttle you to the door.
Read more: ParkingCar rental
The rental companies have desks in the terminal and cars on lots a short walk away. Western Crete is beach-and-gorge country reached by small roads, so nearly everyone rents for the whole stay; book early for July and August and ask about gravel roads before heading for Balos.
Read more: Car rentalLocal tips
- The taxi tariffs here are genuinely fixed and printed on a board at the rank. If a driver quotes more than the board, point at it; the board wins.
- The Akrotiri plateau is windy in a way Chania itself is not: on gusty days the approach is bumpy and afternoon flights sometimes hold. Check the live board on windy days before setting off.
- Souda port is 15 minutes away and the overnight ferry to Piraeus leaves around 21:00: an afternoon arrival can connect, and the evening in Chania’s harbour first is the better plan.
- The Agia Triada monastery is ten minutes from the terminal on the way down. With time to spare before a flight, it is a far better wait than the departures hall.
- Scandinavian flights (Norwegian, SAS) leave in a late-afternoon bunch in summer; if yours is one of them, the security queue at 15:00 is the day’s longest. Arrive two and a half hours before.
See also
Prices and timetables are indicative and change seasonally. Confirm before you travel.