Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport — Heraklion, Greece

Crete's busiest airport carries the name of Nikos Kazantzakis, the island-born novelist behind Zorba the Greek, whose grave sits nearby atop a Venetian-era bastion overlooking the city rather than in consecrated church ground, a reflection of how controversial his writing once was to religious authorities. HER handles a massive seasonal surge each summer as sun-seeking travelers from across Northern Europe descend on Crete's beaches, archaeological sites, and the nearby Minoan palace ruins at Knossos. The airport's runway sits uncomfortably close to both the coastline and surrounding hills, a geographic squeeze that has long constrained expansion and pushed Greek authorities to develop an entirely new airport at Kasteli intended eventually to take over international traffic. Until that replacement opens, this cramped but vital facility continues absorbing chartered jets well beyond what its original mid-century layout was ever designed to accommodate.