Tag Archives: Chania airport

Progress on the new VOAK and Heraklion-Kastelli airport

Two important contract signings took place in Crete at the end of last month. On 30th January the Prime Minister visited the construction site of the new Heraklion airport at Kastelli and witnessed the signing of the contract for the air traffic control and other electronic equipment for the new airport. On the same day the Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas also signed the document marking the start of the concession agreement for the Kissamos-Chania-Heraklion section of the new VOAK, at the offices of the Regional Unit of Chania.

The two men speak into the microphones of the press against a building site background.
The Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas and the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis address the media against a backdrop of the half-completed terminal at the new Kastelli-Heraklion airport. 30th January 2026. Photo: Prime Minister’s YouTube channel.

Speaking at the signing in Heraklion, the Prime Minister said: “Crete is changing. Crete is embarking at great speed on the third decade of the 21st century, solving outstanding problems which have been inherited from the past, and is now being buttressed with infrastructure projects which I believe will give it an unprecedented developmental impetus, if one thinks that the new airport here in Kastelli will be able to receive more than twice the number of flights of those which the Kazantzakis airport receives today.” He noted that considerable benefit will be derived both by the citizens of Heraklion and the wider area from the exploitation of the old airport.

Speaking at the signing of the new VOAK agreement, the Infrastructure Minister said: “This is not only a great day for Crete, it is a great day for Greece,” emphasising that it is the last major highways project in the country which is now in the process of implementation. “The VOAK is the final commitment of the Greek State with regard to motorways. It is a project which we have been hearing about for many years and for this reason, from 2019, Mr Mitsotakis had set it as a first priority for the government,” he said, acknowledging the contribution of the previous heads of the Infrastructure Ministry, Kostas Karamanlis and Christos Staikouras.

Ministers and officials group around the two men signing the concession agreement document,
Signing the document signalling the start of the concession agreement for the main section of the VOAK from Chania to Hersonissos, plus the Chania to Kissamos extension. 30th January 2026. The signatories were the Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas (left) and Manos Moustakas, Vice-President and General Director for Business Development of the concessionaire Diktaion AE, which is part of the GEK TERNA group.
The occasion was celebrated by a full complement of Ministers and local MPs as well as the mayors of all the municipalities for which the new motorway will have a significant impact: Chania, Apokoronas, Kantanos-Selino, Kissamos, Heraklion, Malevizi, Rethymnon, Agios Vasileios, Anogeia, Mylopotamos, and the deputy mayor of Platanias. Photo: Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport/X.com.

There was already a signing of the main VOAK contract in Heraklion in May 2025, which was similarly hailed as the start of a new era for Crete. However, the decision to exercise the option for the Chania-Kissamos extension of the VOAK was not made until December 2025, when it was also signed by the Transport Minister amid great local fanfare. The new document is the agreement marking the coming into force of the concession, which includes the construction of the Chania-Kissamos extension as a definite fact.

Amid such a flurry of signings one is almost tempted to give credit to the scepticism of the leader of the right-wing opposition party Greek Solution, Kyriakos Velopoulos, who sought to cast doubt on the timetable set for completion of the highway at the previous signing last May: “Let’s see how many more times the Prime Minister will inaugurate a project such as the VOAK in Crete which will save lives, … inauguration after inauguration, only in plans and nowhere else, because the VOAK recalls the Bridge of Arta. All day long they started on it, and in the evening it was not finished.”

However, since then demonstrable progress has been made, and while no one can imagine that such a complex project will be completed entirely without delays, it is clear that work on it is well and truly under way.

Safety improvements on the existing VOAK
The most tangible evidence of the government’s determination to push forward is to be found firstly in the road safety improvements being carried out on the existing highway and secondly in the preliminary work on the Chania bypass, which has led to traffic diversions between Vamvakopoulo and Mournies, expected to last until April. (Similar work is under way on the Rethymnon bypass, but the one at Heraklion is the subject of a dispute with the Municipality.)

A stretch of highway showing lane markings and a line of plastic bollards receding into the distance.
The installation of 2+1 lane arrangements divided by plastic bollards has transformed the experience of driving on the VOAK between Kolymbari and Chania. Photo: Facebook page of Giannis Lionakis, President of the Voluntary Association for the Prevention of Accidents.

The road safety improvements between Chania and Kolymbari, which started in July last year, have in fact been completed in the record time of six months and have completely transformed the experience of driving into Chania from the Kolymbari area. Similar improvements are also under way to the east, between Linoperamata and Heraklion . As detailed in a report on the travel site Tornos News, the measures were a response to the abysmal safety record of the highway between these two points, totalling some 160 km, which between 2022 and 2024 saw 26 serious traffic accidents, 20 fatalities and 18 serious injuries.

The improvements were modelled on a pilot project on the Patras-Pyrgos road which in the 12 months following its completion saw a 90% reduction in fatal accidents and zero head-on collisions. The main measures have included:
— the creation of alternating stretches with 2 lanes one way and 1 lane the other, making it possible to overtake slow-moving traffic safely;
— the installation of plastic bollards separating the different directions;
– the laying of new asphalt with anti-skid surfaces and updated road markings.
The works could be completed quickly since, as explained in the report, “they are low-cost, immediate, and temporary measures that do not require environmental permits or expropriations and are intended to bridge the gap until the new highway is completed”.
(Haniotika Nea, 31/01/26, Tornosnews.gr)

An article in Haniotika Nea dated 7th February enumerates the progress made to date and provides a useful summary of the two major projects – the VOAK and the new Heraklion airport:

A new era for transport in Crete

As emphasised by APE-MPE, essentially these are two of the biggest works being completed in the current period throughout the nation in terms of both objective scale and the level of technical requirements.

The new motorway
The Concession Agreement for the basic section of the VOAK relates to the planning, funding, construction, operation, maintenance and commercial exploitation of the Northern Road Axis of Crete from Chania to Hersonissos, a total length of 157 km. The work includes the options taken up by the government for the 30 km Kissamos-Chania extension and a multilevel interchange at Chania connecting the VOAK with Daskalogiannis airport.

The technical details of the work comprise:
— 24 new modern interchanges;
— 23 tunnels;
— 85 bridges;
— 99 under- and overpasses to ensure the safe passage of local traffic;
— 19 “cut and cover” constructions, Tunnel Control Centres, Operational and Maintenance Centres and Passenger Service Stations.

The concession agreement lasts for 35 years, covering a 5-year period for planning and construction and a 30-year period of operation. Preliminary work has already started on the main section at the bypasses for Chania and Rethymnon. Also, construction sites for the new highway are already under way for the publicly funded stretch from Agios Nikolaos to Neapoli and for the Public-Private Partnership section from Neapoli to Hersonissos.

The new Heraklion airport
Pictures from the construction site of the new airport at Kastelli show the size and importance of the project, which is already 67% completed. The new airport will be the most modern in Greece and is intended to replace the present-day Heraklion airport, which is second in terms of traffic in the country, with more than 10 million passengers in 2025, representing an increase of 7.1% over 2024.

The agreement for the supply of air traffic equipment comprises:
– a digital control tower, with fully digitised working environment for the air traffic controllers;
– communications systems: digital platforms for voice and data transmission, with high levels of redundancy;
– surveillance and navigation: installation of modern radar systems, precision landing aids and high quality meteorological infrastructure;
 – interconnectivity: full connection with the Control Centres for the areas of Athens and Macedonia.

In addition, along with the construction of the new airport, subsidiary works have been scheduled relating to the connection of the Airport with the VOAK, as well as the site’s connection to the electrical grid.
(Haniotika Nea, 07/02/26)

Increased passenger traffic at Chania Airport

Passenger traffic at Chania airport has increased by 8.4 per cent over last year in 2024, with the most foreign visitors during the tourist period coming from the UK – more than 100,000 British visitors passed through Daskalogiannis Airport in August. The increase in passenger traffic is reflected in figures released last week by Fraport Greece, which manages the airport.

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Heraklion airport to close for a week


The Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport at Heraklion is to close for a week for essential repairs, namely the replacement of the asphalt on the landing runway. In what is reported as the first closure of the airport in its history, it will be out of action from 19th to 24th February. The closure was confirmed on Friday by the issue of a NOTAM – a Notice to Airmen, or Notice to Air Missions – the official notification of a change of status of local flight facilities or procedures, or the existence of a hazard which many affect flight operations.

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New route for the VOAK-airport link

There can be few people, either residents or visitors, who have not experienced at some point the rigours of the road connecting Souda with Chania airport. Whether as a nervous taxi passenger or at the wheel of one’s own transport, hurrying to catch a flight or struggling to keep to the road after a late-night arrival from Northern Europe, the combination of narrow lanes, blind bends, poor lighting and slow-moving trucks, not to mention impatient local drivers, renders the journey uniquely stressful. While the road surface and markings have been improved in recent years, the problems remain.

It has been repeatedly pointed out that a busy international airport such as Chania, which welcomes millions of passengers a year, requires an access road which will ease the journey for those arriving or leaving and will not blight the visitor’s initial impressions of the island. It is therefore a relief to know that plans for a new access route linking the airport with the VOAK are now properly under way. (Haniotika Nea 8th December)

At a meeting at the offices of the Regional Unit of Chania on Wednesday 7th December, deputy minister for Infrastructure Giorgos Karagiannis revealed the plans for a new link road which will bypass the populated areas through which the current road passes and will cost over 100 million euros to implement. The minister said that there will be an effort to incorporate the VOAK-airport link into the overall VOAK project so that the two are funded simultaneously, which will facilitate raising the resources needed for its construction.

The new route

Map of the proposed route for the new Chania airport-VOAK link
The new road planned to link Chania airport with the VOAK at Souda (approximate route shown in red), should reduce journey times and will avoid the built-up areas through which the current road (shown in grey) now passes.

Details of the new plan were presented at the meeting by Giannis Karnesis, Director for Transport Infrastructure at the ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. The basic points of his exposition were as follows:

– There was an old plan drawn up by the Cretan Regional Authority which could not be implemented because there were major objections from the communities of Pithari and Souda. The plan essentially provided for the widening of the existing road, with expropriations having been already carried out along the major part of it.

– The ministry itself had drawn up a provisional plan 18 months ago but that again proved unacceptable, since it created problems in urban areas which are undergoing intensive residential development.

– They have now devised a new route passing close to the Naval Base, which is not a built-up area, so that the urban areas will not be disturbed.

– Starting from the Air Base junction on the existing road south from the airport, the new road will turn south west, “diving down towards the sea” as Mr Karnesis put it, and will bypass the settlement of Aroni, skirting the edge of the Naval Station/US base. The new route, according to the planners, will not affect the settlements of Aroni and Pithari as the first plan would have.

– Between Akrotiri and Souda there will be two viaducts to shorten the distance, for which environmental permits will be required.

– The final phase of the plan comprises an 800-metre long viaduct built on piles which will run west of Souda, connecting the new road with the VOAK.

– The new road will terminate 1 km west of the current Souda junction, where a new junction will be created.

“The project avoids creating problems in urban areas, but there will need to be an immediate agreement with the Crete Naval Station for them to give us permission on the boundaries of the controlled area,” Mr Karnesis said, adding that the basic difference from the previous plan was that the latter “cut across the settlement and created problems in the urban zone.” A video of Mr Karnesi’s presentation of the new route of the link road can be seen on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5IsgRyT8Do.

The deputy minister’s predictions

The Souda airport connection is a priority for the government, the deputy minister told reporters. Planning is under way and the project will be submitted for environmental permissions in the first three to four months of 2023. Commenting on the fact that permission for the route has yet to be received from the ministry of Defence, he said he was confident that it would be granted. “We have an overall plan for Crete, a holistic approach which will make Crete a different island in the coming years,” he said.

The meeting at the Regional Unit of Chania was attended by the Deputy Regional Governor Nikos Kalogeris, and Chania MPs Dora Bakogianni, Manousos Voloudakis and Vasilis Digalakis.

The Mournies junction

The deputy minister also paid a visit to the Mournies junction, where work has been progressing over the past few months, and predicted that the project would be finished by the end of May 2023. Asked by local residents about the pedestrian pavements which are needed at the northern end of the Mournies road, he reassured them that they were part of the plan and would be included in the finished project.