Craiova International Airport

Coordinates: 44°19′05″N 023°53′19″E / 44.31806°N 23.88861°E / 44.31806; 23.88861 (Craiova International Airport)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Craiova Airport)

Craiova International Airport

Aeroportul Internaţional Craiova
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorConsiliul Judeţean Dolj
ServesCraiova, Romania
Opened1938 (1938)
Focus city forWizz Air
Elevation AMSL626 ft / 191 m
Coordinates44°19′05″N 023°53′19″E / 44.31806°N 23.88861°E / 44.31806; 23.88861 (Craiova International Airport)
Websitewww.aeroportcraiova.ro
Map
CRA is located in Romania
CRA
CRA
Location of airport in Romania
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,500 8,203 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers[1]598,005 Increase
Aircraft movements[1]5,260 Increase 39.9%
Source: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[2]
Statistics[3][4]

Craiova International Airport (IATA: CRA, ICAO: LRCV) is located in the south-western part of Romania, 7 km (4.3 mi) east[2] of Craiova municipality, one of Romania's largest cities. The airport area is the headquarters of Avioane Craiova (formerly known as IRAv Craiova), the company which built the Romanian IAR-93 and IAR-99 aircraft.

History[edit]

The airport was established in 1938 following a decree issued by King Carol II. Through the decree, the airport was meant to be used both as a public airport and a military one in case of war. The airport had a dirt runway with dimensions of 1000×200 m. Between 1950 and 1952, a 2,000 m (6,600 ft) concrete runway, as well as the first airport facilities were constructed. On 6 May 1957, Li-2 aircraft began flying on the Craiova - Bucharest route. The control tower was built in 1959, and between 1959 and 1972 the runway was extended to 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Between 1972 and 1989, other airport facilities were built.[5]

From 1995, the airport was opened to domestic and international traffic, serving only charter flights.[5] A new terminal was opened at Craiova airport in December 2010.[6] Runway renovation works took place in summer 2015. Since July 2014, Craiova Airport is the base for Wizz Air which serves 7 destinations in 4 countries. In March 2018, Ryanair announced it would terminate all services at Craiova by October 2018[7] which had operated since November 2016 and consisted of a single route to Valencia.

Airlines and destinations[edit]

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Craiova Airport:[8]

AirlinesDestinations
Animawings Seasonal charter: Antalya[9]
Wizz Air[10] Bergamo, Birmingham, Bologna, Charleroi, London–Luton, Rome–Ciampino (begins 1 April 2024),[citation needed] Rome-Fiumicino (ends 29 March 2024)[citation needed]

Statistics[edit]

Annual passenger traffic at CRA airport. See Wikidata query.
Year Passengers Change Aircraft movements Change
2007 5,133
Steady
Steady
Steady
2008 12,988 153% Increase
Steady
Steady
2009 15,130 16.4% Increase
Steady
Steady
2010 23,629 56.1% Increase
Steady
Steady
2011 32,006 35.4% Increase
Steady
Steady
2012 29,626 7.4% Decrease 3,394
Steady
2013 40,291 35.9%Increase 2,246 33.9%Decrease
2014 138,886 244.7%Increase 3,506 56.1%Increase
2015 116,947 15.8%Decrease 2,999 14.5%Decrease
2016 222,320 90.1%Increase 4,018 33.9%Increase
2017 447,227 101.1%Increase 5,960 48.3%Increase
2018 493,056 10.2%Increase 6,793 14%Increase
2019 514,544 4.3%Increase 6,779 0.2%Decrease
2020[1] 159,552 68.9%Decrease 3,758 44.5%Decrease
2021[1] 191,510 20.0%Increase 5,260 39.6%Increase
Busiest Routes from Craiova International Airport (2019)
Rank Airport Passengers
1 United Kingdom London - Luton
142,678
2 Italy Bergamo
84,970
3 Italy Rome - Ciampino Airport
43,856
4 Spain Madrid
40,183
5 Italy Bologna
35,368

Military use[edit]

Retired MiG-21 and IAR-93 aircraft at the base in 1996

Between 1940 and 2004 the airport was used as a military air base. During the Cold War, the 67th Fighter Aviation Regiment was headquartered at Craiova. It was equipped with MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters, as well as IAR 93 ground attack aircraft. From 1991, the MiG-15s and 17s were replaced with MiG-21s. The 322nd Aviation Maintenance Centre also functioned at the base between 1970 and 2004.

Ground transportation[edit]

The airport is connected to the city via bus route 9 (Metro-Central Market-Craiovița Nouă) of the public transport company RAT Craiova. There is a station in front of the airport with all-day service time.[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Situaţii statistice de aeroport pentru perioada 2017 – 2021" (PDF) (in Romanian).
  2. ^ a b EAD Basic
  3. ^ Craiova Airport in 2013 Archived 8 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine at newsair.ro (in Romanian)
  4. ^ ORDIN 169/1.801. Planul national de actiune privind reducerea emisiilor de gaze cu efect de seră în domeniul aviatiei civile Archived 17 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
  5. ^ a b "Istoric". aeroportcraiova.ro (in Romanian).
  6. ^ "Craiova: Noul terminal de plecări al aeroportului va fi inaugurat peste două săptămâni" [The New Terminal of the Airport Will be Inaugurated in Two Weeks]. Adevarul. 25 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Ryanair to stop flights from Oradea and Craiova, after closing Timisoara base". 16 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Craiova Airport flight schedule".. Retrieved on 6 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Star Tours".
  10. ^ "Wizz Air".[full citation needed]
  11. ^ "RAT-Craiova bus schedule". Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.

External links[edit]