Beautiful Greek island home to Europe’s ‘worst airport’ | Europe

As any seasoned traveler can attest, a bad airport can greatly impact one’s overall trip.

Of course, the destination is always the most important.

But a bad airport experience can exacerbate the already exciting feeling of anxiety during travel.

Holidu, a booking portal for holiday homes, analyzed data from Google Maps and identified the best and worst airports in Europe for 2024.

This data included ratings and reviews and revealed that although the destination was a beautiful holiday destination, it needed major improvements in terms of the overall travel experience.

According to data, Heraklion International Airport in Crete was chosen as the worst airport in Europe.

Heraklion is the main airport of the Greek island of Crete and the country’s second busiest airport after Athens International Airport.

It received an average rating of 2.6 stars and included 21,202 reviews; Analysis of the comments proved him to be the least favourite.

Poor ratings and less than positive reviews clearly showed that travelers face a number of issues and issues when using this airport.

Some reasons for the airport’s low score include being dirty, overcrowded, having poor air conditioning and restrooms, unfriendly staff, poor seating, and a serious lack of food options and information.

A TripAdvisor review stated that it was a ‘shocking experience at the end of a lovely holiday’.

The review continued: “This airport is appalling, comparable to a third world country. It doesn’t look like it belongs in Europe.

“Seating areas are inadequate and I had to sit on the floor for half an hour until someone became vacant.

“Avoid if possible.”

Another added: “Heraklion airport has not been updated since the 1950s. The departure gate area was standing room only for hours. People were literally fighting to get space.

“The toilets were beyond disgusting. Toilets with no toilet seat, soap (I think) was a pink liquid in a coke bottle (doesn’t make up for it). “Both men and women were in the same situation.”

“Worst airport I’ve ever been to, overcrowded and dirty,” added another disgruntled traveler.

Despite Crete being one of the most beautiful places in Europe, it is clear that there is a strong need to modernize and overhaul its airport.