New International Heraklion Airport
New International Airport Heraklion Crete, Greece
Awarded by public competition for a 30 year concession, a greenfield airport near Kastelli, Crete is designed to replace the existing airport of Heraklion, which is restricted to future growth because of its proximity to the city and sea. The project for the new airport includes a new runway, aircraft apron, terminal building, air traffic control tower, emergency service building and other ancillary buildings. The airport is designed for a traffic forecast of 15 million annual passengers in 2050.
The optimization of passenger flows is an important aspect in the design of the terminal. An in depth analysis was under taken to reduce passenger walking distances to a minimum. The final design and form of the building is strongly influenced by the decisions taken in this analysis. Each module of the terminal can be clearly identified by the triangular shaped boarding concourses on the airside. The triangular plan shape demonstrated to be the best form for optimizing airside facade interface; maximizing facade length with a minimum interior surface area, reducing considerable walking distances from a centralized security control point.