Cluj International Airport

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Cluj International Airport
90px
Aeroportul Internațional Cluj
CLJ airport.jpg
Kluĵo, flughavena pasaĝerejo 1.jpeg
IATA: CLJICAO: LRCL
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Cluj County Council
Operator Cluj County Council
Serves Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL 1,036 ft / 315 m
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website airportcluj.ro
Map
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 411: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Location within Romania
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25[1] 2,040 6,693 Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 1,485,652
Passengers change 14-15 Increase 25.6%
Aircraft movements 14,667
Sources: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[2] newsair.ro[3]

Cluj International Airport[4] (IATA: CLJICAO: LRCL) is an airport serving the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Initially known as Someșeni Airport, it is located 9 km (5.6 mi) east of the city centre, in the Someșeni area, which is now within the Cluj-Napoca city limits.[2] The airport is named in honour of Romanian revolutionary Avram Iancu.

In terms of passengers' traffic, Cluj Airport is the second busiest airport in Romania, after Bucharest Henri Coandă, handling 1.48 million passengers in 2015. Its size and location (on the European route E576 and close to A3 Transylvania Motorway) makes it the most important airport in the historical region of Transylvania.

History

A Farman-Goliath aircraft, similar to the one used on the airport's first flight

Cluj Airport was founded on 1 April 1932 by the Romanian Ministry of Industry and Trade. Until the civil airport was built, the first operations used the Someşeni Military Aerodrome that was founded by the Romanian National Service of Air Navigation (Romanian: Serviciul Naţional de Navigaţie Aerianǎ SNNA) in 1928. The SNNA was set up by the Romanian Ministry of War for opening an air transportation line between Cluj and Bucharest. The first aircraft used was the Farman-Goliath aircraft, a twin-engine plane with space for ten passengers built by the Farman Aviation Works.[citation needed]

In 1933, Cluj Airport was declared an International Airport by the Romanian Government. The first international flight, a CSA Czech Airlines Prague-Cluj-Bucharest flight, took place on 11 September 1933. The aircraft used on this route were eight-seat Avia-Fokker aircraft. In the following years, several new routes were opened, such as the Aeroflot Moscow-Cluj-Prague flight, opened on 15 November 1935, which was operated with 14-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-2 twin-engine aircraft, registered as USSR-M25 and USSR-M26. Internal flights were also operated in this period, such as Cluj-Satu-Mare and Cernăuţi-Cluj-Arad using Lockheed Model 10 Electra ten-passenger aircraft and de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft. In the late 1930s the airport recorded a steady growth and the employees number rose from 6 in 1934 to 16 in 1939. The passenger terminal was also built in this period, being inaugurated in 1939.[citation needed]

During World War II, the airport became a military airport, as it was considered to be the most important in Transylvania. In 1940, as a result of the Second Vienna Award, Northern Transylvania (including Cluj) was ceded to Hungary and thus the airport was used by the Hungarian Air Force and German Luftwaffe. Malert airline also operated flights to Budapest during these years. In October 1944, the Hungarian forces in the city were defeated by the Romanian and Soviet armies. By the time of the reconquest of the airport by the Romanian No. 4 Fighting Squadron Focşani, in late September 1944, the airport was completely destroyed.

After the war, the airport's operations were resumed with TAROM internal flights connecting Cluj to other major Romanian cities. The aircraft used were the Lisunov Li-2 / Douglas DC-3 and Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft.

In the 1960s, an extensive modernization of the airport began. In 1969, a new passenger terminal was opened. By 1970, the airport was fully equipped with all of the safety facilities.

Arrivals Terminal

The airport remained a domestic airport until September 1996, when it was once again opened to both international passenger and cargo traffic. The extension of the terminal building was also started in 1996 and since August 1997 it is run by the Cluj County Council. By 2001, the extension of the airport building was finished, the runway lighting system was modernized, and an Instrument Landing System (ILS) CAT I equipment was implemented.

In 2007 and 2008, the Cluj airport had the most spectacular evolution in recent years, with a year-over-year growth of 60% and 93% respectively, reaching over 750,000 passengers in 2008.[5]

The construction of a new terminal, capable of handling 2 million passengers annually, started on 26 June 2007. The 10,812 m2 (116,380 sq ft) arrivals hall was inaugurated on May 22, 2008,[6] followed by the new departures hall, with a total area of 16,000 m2 (170,000 sq ft), inaugurated in May 2009.[7] Total project cost was an estimated €40 million.[7][8] In February 2009, the ILS equipment was upgraded to CAT II.

On 8 September 2011, the construction works for building a new runway of 2,100 m (6,890 ft) began. The works represented the first phase of the investment that aims at a take-off/landing runway of 3,500 m (11,483 ft).[9] The new runway 07/25 officially went into operation on 26 October 2013.[10] The old runway 08/26 became a taxiway, after the new runway opened.[1]

In 2014, ROMATSA held a competition for the creation of a new control tower for Cluj-Napoca Airport. Of the 22 projects that were submitted in the competition,[11] winner was chosen the project of Outline Architecture Office,[12] an architectural design office based in Bucharest. The tower resembles a tulnic and will have a height of 42 m. The costs for the construction of new control tower will be borne by ROMATSA.[13]

Cluj Airport exceeded the 1,000,000 passenger mark in 2010.[14]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines Destinations
Blue Air Bucharest (begins 3 June 2016), Dublin (begins 4 June 2016), Iași (begins 1 October 2016), Liverpool (begins 3 June 2016), Timișoara (begins 1 October 2016)
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa Regional
operated by Air Dolomiti
and Lufthansa CityLine
Munich
TAROM Bucharest, Vienna
Vueling Seasonal: Barcelona
Wizz Air Alicante (begins 24 July 2016), Barcelona, Bari,[15] Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld (begins 3 July 2016), Billund (begins 23 July 2016),[16] Bologna, Bucharest (begins 22 July 2016),[17] Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn,[15] Doncaster/Sheffield (begins 22 July 2016), Dortmund, Dubai-Al Maktoum, Eindhoven, Geneva, London-Luton, Madrid, Malmö, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Rome-Ciampino, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Treviso, Valencia, Zaragoza
Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca

Charter 2016

Airlines Destinations
Aegean Airlines Seasonal charter: Heraklion, Rhodes
Air Bucharest Seasonal charter: Antalya
AtlasGlobal Seasonal charter: Antalya
Blue Air Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum, Corfu, Heraklion, Zakynthos
Corendon Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
Freebird Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
Pegasus Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
TAROM Seasonal charter: Chania, Santorini, Skiathos, Zakynthos

Cargo

Airlines Operated for Destinations
Airest DHL Budapest
ASL Airlines Switzerland UPS Cologne/Bonn
Silver Air TNT Budapest
TAROM TAROM Cargo Bucharest-Henri Coandă

Statistics

Annual revenue passenger et cargo statistics[3][18][19]
Year Passengers (% change from prior year) Tones (% change from prior year)
2004
162,668(+34.4%)
138(+29.8%)
2005
202,556(+24.5%)
213(+54.3%)
2006
244,366(+20.6%)
187(-12.2%)
2007
390,521(+59.8%)
254(+35.8%)
2008
752,181(+92.6%)
413(+62.6%)
2009
834,400(+10.9%)
385(-6.8%)
2010
1,028,907(+23.3%)
354(-8.1%)
2011
1,004,855(-2.3%)
744(+101.7%)
2012
931,999(-7.2%)
885(+18.9%)
2013
1,036,438(+11.2%)
1,262(+42.6%)
2014
1,182,047(+14.0%)
1,332(+5.5%)
2015
1,485,652(+25.6%)
1,680(+26.1%)
2016
Month Passengers[20] Change (2015-2016) Passengers Cumulatively
January 105,533 Increase 15.2% 105,533
February 102,499 Increase 17.3% 208,032
March 116,097 Increase 8.6% 324,129
Top routes from Cluj International Airport
Airports Weekly Departures
(June 2016)[21]
Airlines
Romania Bucharest - Henri Coandă International Airport
45
Blue Air, TAROM
Germany Munich Airport
19
Lufthansa
United Kingdom London - Luton Airport
14
Wizz Air
Spain Barcelona - El Prat Airport
6
Vueling, Wizz Air
Italy Bergamo - Orio al Serio Airport
6
Wizz Air
France Paris - Beauvais–Tillé Airport
6
Wizz Air
Italy Bologna Airport
5
Wizz Air
Austria Vienna Airport
5
TAROM
Belgium Brussels South Charleroi Airport
4
Wizz Air
Spain Madrid Barajas Airport
4
Wizz Air
Italy Rome - Ciampino Airport
4
Wizz Air
Poland Warsaw Chopin Airport
4
LOT
Germany Dortmund Airport
3
Wizz Air
Netherlands Eindhoven Airport
3
Wizz Air
Sweden Malmö Airport
3
Wizz Air
Germany Nuremberg Airport
3
Wizz Air
Spain Valencia Airport
3
Wizz Air
Spain Zaragoza Airport
3
Wizz Air
Busiest Routes from Avram Iancu International Airport (2014) & (2015)
Rank Airport Passengers 2014 Carriers Airport Passengers 2015 Carriers
1 Romania Bucharest
158,143
TAROM United Kingdom London
194,250
Wizz Air
2 United Kingdom London
129,935
Wizz Air Romania Bucharest
171,491
TAROM
3 Germany Munich
121,071
Lufthansa Germany Munich
131,384
Lufthansa
4 France Paris
74,354
Wizz Air Italy Bergamo
95,151
Wizz Air
5 Italy Bergamo
69,776
Wizz Air France Paris
92,384
Wizz Air
6 Italy Bologna
69,001
Wizz Air Spain Barcelona
80,633
Vueling, Wizz Air
7 Spain Barcelona
64,750
Vueling, Wizz Air Italy Bologna
70,487
Wizz Air
8 Germany Dortmund
61,428
Wizz Air Italy Rome - Ciampino Airport
57,450
Wizz Air
9 Spain Madrid
50,592
Wizz Air Spain Madrid
51,141
Wizz Air
10 Spain Valencia
41,888
Wizz Air Spain Valencia
43,941
Wizz Air
11 Belgium Charleroi
40,935
Wizz Air
Source:Eurostat [2]
Busiest Routes by Country from Avram Iancu International Airport (2015)
Rank Country Passengers 2015 Carriers
1 Italy Italy
274,576
Wizz Air
2 Germany Germany
242,351
Lufthansa, Wizz Air
3 Spain Spain
221,040
Vueling, Wizz Air
4 United Kingdom United Kingdom
194,250
Wizz Air
5 Romania Romania
171,491
TAROM
6 France France
92,384
Wizz Air
Source:Eurostat [3]

Ground transportation

The airport is located 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the city centre on the European route E576. The drive from the city centre takes about 20 minutes. Car rental services are available in the terminal building.

RATUC bus route 8

CTP Cluj Napoca, the local public transport company, operates its Route No. 8 that connects the airport with the Mihai Viteazul Square in the City Center and trolleybus No. 5 to the Rail station.

Accidents and incidents

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  • On 5 September 1986 at about 19:45, a fully loaded Antonov An-24RV aircraft departed Bucharest Otopeni Airport, bound for Cluj-Napoca. When the landing procedure began, one of the flight attendants, Aurelia Grigore, realized that the aircraft was landing at higher than normal speed. When the main landing gear touched ground, it bounced repeatedly until the aircraft stopped. The front of the aircraft was on fire. Grigore realized they had an emergency situation. With her flight attendant colleague, she decided to start deplaning passengers. She opened the emergency exit and she let the stairs down, but the stairs weren't touching the ground because the front gear was broken. She was helped by Emil Hossu, a famous actor. "He was one of the few people that didn't panic and helped us evacuate the aircraft in safety", said Grigore. After evacuating the passengers they returned to help the pilots who were trapped in the cockpit. "The cockpit was on fire and we lost any faith that we could save them". The next moments were horrible for all passengers and flight crew. The aircraft was destroyed by flames and with the pilots still on board. After 10 minutes, they saw one of the copilots trying to escape through a window. "He told us his foot was stuck and that he couldn't get it out. We tried to help him, but we couldn't. Finally he managed to get out of the aircraft on fire. He was completely burned, you couldn't even look at him. It was terrible. The other 2 pilots burned alive as we watched them, helpless". The copilot died also. He was transported to the ER but died the next day because of the burns. The authorities said that the accident was due to an equipment malfunction. The 3 pilots were the only casualties.
  • On 7 January 2016, a Blue Air Boeing 737-400, reg. YR-BAS, skidded off the runway after landing. No injuries reported amongst the 116 passengers and crew. Runway contamination (snow) is the suspected cause. An official investigation is under way.[22]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 New RWY at Cluj-Napoca International Airport at Romanian CAA
  2. 2.0 2.1 EAD Basic
  3. 3.0 3.1 Traffic Data (Romanian)
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Aeroport Cluj
  7. 7.0 7.1 Cluj-Napoca Airport has a new departures terminal
  8. The Arrivals hall (Romanian)
  9. The beginning of the construction works for Cluj-Napoca International Airport's new runway
  10. Noua pistă a Aeroportului Cluj-Napoca, inaugurată în 26 octombrie (Romanian)
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  13. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. Cu pasagerul 1.000.000, Aeroportul Cluj devine lider regional
  15. 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. http://airlineroute.net/2016/01/21/w6-cljotp-jul16/
  18. Plan strategic de dezvoltare a Municipiului Cluj-Napoca - 2005 (Romanian)
  19. ORDIN 169/1.801. Planul national de actiune privind reducerea emisiilor de gaze cu efect de seră în domeniul aviatiei civile (Romanian)
  20. Anna.aero database
  21. [1]
  22. http://www.cias.gov.ro/images/rapoarte-preliminare/2016.02.06%20Declaratie%20provizorie%20eveniment%20Cluj.pdf

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons