Kasteli
Encyclopedia
Kastelli is a village and a former municipality in the Heraklion peripheral unit, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Minoa Pediada
Minoa Pediada
Minoa Pediada is a municipality in Heraklion peripheral unit, Crete, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Evangelismos.-Municipality:...

, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 6,819 (2001 census).

Airport

It is planned that a replacement for Heraklion International Airport, "Nikos Kazantzakis" will be situated on the south western side of the Hellenic Air Force Base of Kastelli, from which the Air Force currently operates Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters.
The idea was first launched in 1986 by then Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...

. The proposal has officially entered the implementation phase, and tenders have been invited. The new airport will become operational in 2014. The existing airport in Heraklion will be closed and the area of 278 hectares (687 acres) will be returned to local communities for a large urban regeneration plan.

The creation of the new airport will require new roads, water and sanitation projects, including the transfer of the settlements located within the proposed runway (Archangelos, Roussochoria). The construction of a 17 km road will connect the airport with the National Road along the north coast of Crete, in the neighbourhood of Chersonissos
Chersonissos
Hersonissos , also transliterated as Chersonisos and Hersónisos, is a town and a municipality in the north of Crete, bordering the Mediterranean / Aegean Sea. This community is about 25 kilometers east of Heraklion and west of Agios Nikolaos. What is usually called Hersonissos is in fact its...

. When finished, the distance from the city of Iraklio to the new airport will be approximately 40 kilometers. Complaints have been filed for lack of a new road linking the new airport to the south coast of Crete.

The new airport will be constructed over an area of 600 hectares (1482 acres), adjacent to the current military airport in Kastelli. It will have a runway of 3800 meters to accommodate larger aircraft than can presently be operated into Heraklion International Airport, "Nikos Kazantzakis". An additional area of 22 hectares (54 acres) is reserved for commercial activity south-west of the new airport. This is a very large project with a budget of 1.2€ billion for construction costs alone, and together with purchase costs including loans and other expenses, will reach 1.5€ billion.
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