History
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.
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 m2, 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 by the Hellenic Air Force.
Annual passenger throughput - 10 year history
| Year | Flights | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 12,931 | 1,428,982 |
| 2002 | 11,826 | 1,384,579 |
| 2003 | 13,974 | 1,479,653 |
| 2004 | 13,214 | 1,446,377 |
| 2005 | 13,060 | 1,512,769 |
| 2006 | 14,760 | 1,760,959 |
| 2007 | 15,430 | 1,882,834 |
| 2008 | 15,206 | 1,866,581 |
| 2009 | 16,014 | 1,795,466 |
| 2010 | 13,852 | 1,654,864 |
Read more about this topic: Chania International Airport
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