Chania Airport “Daskalogiannis” is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away. It is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing number of tourists. The airport is named after Daskalogiannis. Ioannis Vlachos, better known as Daskalogiannis was a wealthy shipbuilder and shipowner who led a Cretan revolt against Ottoman rule in the 18th century.
Daskalogiannis was born in Anopolis village in Sfakia, a semi-autonomous region of Crete, in 1722 or 1730. His father, who was also a wealthy shipowner, sent him to be educated abroad. Due to his education, his compatriots called him “Daskalos” (teacher), hence his nickname Daskalogiannis, literally “John the Teacher.” He is referred to as a town clerk in 1750, as chairman of the region of Sfakia in 1765, and as the owner of four, three-mast merchant ships. These would have sailed from Obrosyalo and the gulf of Loutro.
Chania airport Taxi – Rates
| From↓ To→ | AGIA MARINA | ALMYRIDA/PLAKA | CHANIA TOWN | DARATSO | GEORGIOUPOLIS | GERANI (CHANIA) | KALYVES | KOLIMBARI | PLATANIAS (CHANIA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHANIA AIRPORT (CHQ) | €45.00 | €45.00 | €29.00 | €37.00 | €60.00 | €52.00 | €40.00 | €60.00 | €50.00 |
In early 1770, he was contacted by Russian emissaries, who hoped to instigate a revolt amongst the Greek subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Daskalogiannis agreed to fund and organize a rebellion in Sfakia against the Turkish authorities when the Russian emissaries promised to support him. In the spring of 1770, Daskalogiannis made preparations for the revolt; he brought together men, rifles, and supplies and had defenses built at strategic locations.[4] However, the Russian fleet in the Aegean, under Count Orlov, did not sail for Crete, and the revolt was left to rely on its own resources. The uprising began on 25 March 1770, with the flag raised at the church of Agios Georgios of Anopolis, and for a short time, parts of Crete had the attributes of an independent nation, including its own coins minted in a cave near Hora Sfakion.
The Russian intervention, promised to Daskalogiannis, failed to materialize [5] and the uprising did not spread to the lowlands. Without outside support, it was put down brutally by the superior Turkish forces of the island, which easily defeated the 1,300 rebels. Sfakia was for the first time fully dominated by Turkish forces. Daskalogiannis surrendered with 70 men at the castle of Frangokastello near Hora Sfakion. On the orders of the Pasha of Candia/Chandax (Heraklion), he was tortured outside Heraklion’s harbor fortress, skinned alive, and executed on 17 June 1771. He is said to have suffered the torture in silence. The Turks forced Daskalogianni’s brother to watch the torturous execution, which allegedly drove him insane.
The focus on civil aviation for the west of Crete has not always been on the current location. It was the airport of Maleme that served civil flights up to 1959, and dating back to the end of Second World War.
Chania airport Minivan – Rates
| From↓ To→ | AGIA MARINA | ALMYRIDA/PLAKA | CHANIA TOWN | DARATSO | GEORGIOUPOLIS | GERANI (CHANIA) | KALYVES | KOLIMBARI | PLATANIAS (CHANIA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHANIA AIRPORT (CHQ) | €70.00 | €75.00 | €50.00 | €60.00 | €95.00 | €75.00 | €65.00 | €90.00 | €75.00 |
Maleme (Military) Airport was constructed by the British Military, shortly before the Second World War. When the war was over, the facility was used as the main public airport of Chania.
In 1959, this activity was transferred to the military airport of Souda. 1967 saw the construction of the first passenger terminal and parking space for two aircraft. In 1974, the airport also began to serve international flights. Because of insufficient capacity, there was the need for a new terminal building. Eventually, in 1996, the new terminal was ready, measuring a surface area of 14,650 square meters (157,700 sq ft), with 6 aircraft stands in front. It has a design capacity of 1.35 million passengers per year. In 2000, it was officially named Ioannis Daskalogiannis.
The airport is also intensively used as a military airfield by the Hellenic Air Force. In December 2015 the privatization of Chania International Airport and 13 other regional airports of Greece was finalized with the signing of the agreement between the Fraport AG/Copelouzos Group joint venture and the state privatization fund.
In June 2018 completed by Fraport Greece, the new aircraft layouts, which are now using push back, for doubling the parking space, the passenger safety area has been expanded, with the increase in hand baggage checkers from 5 to 8 and the Duty Free store space increased from 400 sq.m. at 1,200 sq. meters, the VIP space was moved to increase the boarding gates from 14 to 16 and the dividing walls in the departure halls were removed in order to have a space of 3,000 sq. meters, a new pumping station was built and network (about 3.5 km) and connected to the municipal sewage network, electromechanical installations (new MCCs, new wiring, new luminaires, new electrical panels, etc.) were optimized, the Apron lighting was upgraded, the WC has been renovated, with the purpose of increase the toilets in the Extra Schengen area and the escalator was moved to a new location, in order to manage better the available spaces.
On June 10, 2018, Air Force One carrying U.S. President Donald Trump stopped for refueling in Chania during Trump’s flight from the G7 meeting in Quebec to the meeting in Singapore with the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un.
Chania airport Minibus – Rates
