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Cluj International Airport

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Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport[4] (IATA: CLJ, ICAO: 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.

"Avram Iancu"
Cluj International Airport

Aeroportul Internațional
„Avram Iancu” Cluj
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCluj County Council
OperatorAeroportul Internațional „Avram Iancu” Cluj R.A.
ServesCluj County, Romania
Opened1932 (1932)
Elevation AMSL1,036 ft / 315 m
Coordinates46°47′06″N 023°41′10″E / 46.78500°N 23.68611°E / 46.78500; 23.68611 (Cluj-Napoca International Airport)
Websiteairportcluj.ro
Map
CLJ is located in Romania
CLJ
CLJ
Location within Romania
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25[1] 2,100 6,693 Concrete
Statistics (2023)
Passengers3,240,750
Aircraft movements27,464
Freight7,417.7
Sources: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[2] airportaar.ro[3]

In terms of passenger traffic, Cluj Airport is the second busiest airport in Romania, after Bucharest Henri Coandă, handling 3.24 million passengers in 2023. Its size and location (on the European route E576 and close to the A3 Transylvania Motorway) make it the most important airport in the historical region of Transylvania.

History

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Early years

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A Farman-Goliath aircraft, similar to the one used on the airport's first flight, in 1937.

The Cluj Airport was founded on 1 April 1932 by the Romanian Ministry of Industry and Trade.[5] Until the civil airport was built, the area was used as a military airfield. On 15 December 1917, the County Council of Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoca) gave land in the settlement of Szamosfalva (today the Someșeni district of Cluj-Napoca) in order to develop a military airport.[6] After the Union of Transylvania with Romania, the Someșeni Military Aerodrome was used for the first civil operations by the National Service of Air Navigation (Romanian: Serviciul Național de Navigație Aeriană SNNA). The SNNA was set up in 1928 by the Romanian Ministry of War for opening an air transportation line between Cluj and Bucharest. The first passenger plane landed on 2 August 1928.[7] The first aircraft used was the Farman-Goliath aircraft, a twin-engine plane with space for ten passengers built by the Farman Aviation Works.[5] Later, the Bucharest-Cluj service was operated by LARES (Liniile Aeriene Române Exploatate de Stat, Romanian Airlines Operated by the State) with Junkers F 13 planes.[8]

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. Domestic flights were also operated in this period, such as Cluj-Satu-Mare and Cernăuți-Cluj-Arad using Lockheed Model 10 Electra ten-passenger aircraft and de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft. In the late 1930s, the airport recorded 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.[5]

During World War II, the airport became again 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 Focșani, in late September 1944, the airport was completely destroyed.[citation needed]

After the war, the airport's operations were resumed with TAROM domestic 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.[clarification needed][citation needed]

Development since the 1990s

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Terminal interior (2009)
 
Terminal interior (2019)

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 was iinstalled.

In 2007 and 2008, the airport posted year-over-year growth of 60% and 93% respectively, reaching over 750,000 passengers in 2008.[9]

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 22 May 2008,[8][10] followed by the new departures hall, with a total area of 16,150 m2 (173,800 sq ft), inaugurated on 15 May 2009.[8][11] The connecting building between the two terminals was inaugurated in November 2009. The total project cost was an estimated €40 million.[11][12] In February 2009, the ILS equipment was upgraded to CAT II.

Cluj Airport exceeded the 1,000,000 passenger mark in 2010.[13] 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).[14] The new runway 07/25 officially went into operation on 26 October 2013.[15] 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,[16] as winner the project of Outline Architecture Office was chosen,[17] 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 the new control tower will be borne by ROMATSA.[18]

In June 2023, the airport began works to expand the departure hall and the apron.[19] Expected to open on 31 May 2024, the 7,200 m2 (77,500 sq ft) extension will add three more gates to the current nine.[19]

On 24 November 2023 the Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport celebrated the first time in his history the passenger with the number 3,000,000 registered during one year and becomes the first regional airport in Romania to exceed this significant passenger threshold.[20]

For the future, the airport development project foresees the construction of the second terminal with an area of 40,000 m2 (430,556 sq ft).[21]

Airlines and destinations

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The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Cluj-Napoca:[22][23]

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroexpress Regional Budapest[24]
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga (begins 2 May 2025)[25]
Animawings Bucharest–Otopeni (begins 15 January 2025)[26]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya,[27] Gazipaşa[28]
HiSky[29] Bucharest–Otopeni,[30] Dublin, Tel Aviv (suspended)[31]
Seasonal charter: Hurghada,[32] Sharm El Sheikh[32]
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Munich
Ryanair Beauvais,[33] Bergamo,[33] Charleroi,[33] Dublin,[34] London–Stansted
Sky Express[35] Seasonal charter: Heraklion,[36] Rhodes[36]
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich[37]
TAROM Bucharest–Otopeni[38]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Wizz Air Alicante, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Charleroi, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Hahn, Leeds/Bradford, Lisbon,[39] London–Luton, Lyon,[39] Madrid, Málaga, Malmö, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Rome–Fiumicino,[40] Stuttgart,[39] Valencia, Vienna ,[39] Zaragoza
Seasonal: Abu Dhabi,[40] Bari, Catania,[41] Chania, Corfu, Larnaca, Naples, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Zakynthos

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at CLJ airport. See Wikidata query.
Annual revenue passenger, aircraft movements and cargo statistics[3][42][43]
Year Passengers (% change from prior year) Movements (% change from prior year) Tones (% change from prior year)
2004
162,668(+34.4%)
6,697(+52.9%)
138(+29.8%)
2005
202,556(+24.5%)
8,018(+19.7%)
213(+54.3%)
2006
244,366(+20.6%)
8,904(+11.1%)
187(-12.2%)
2007
390,521(+59.8%)
9,206(+3.4%)
254(+35.8%)
2008
752,181(+92.6%)
12,025(+30.6%)
413(+62.6%)
2009
834,400(+10.9%)
13,489(+12.2%)
385(-6.8%)
2010
1,028,907(+23.3%)
16,352(+21.2%%)
354(-8.1%)
2011
1,004,855(-2.3%)
14,064(-13.9%)
744(+101.7%)
2012
931,999(-7.2%)
–
885(+18.9%)
2013
1,036,438(+11.2%)
11,743
1,262(+42.6%)
2014
1,182,047(+14.0%)
12,710(+8.2%)
1,332(+5.5%)
2015
1,487,603(+25.8%)
14,667(+15.4%)
1,680(+26.1%)
2016
1,880,171(+26.5%)
19,152(+30.6%)
2,100(+25%)
2017
2,699,286(+43.6%)
24,476(+27.8%)
2,927(+39%)
2018
2,782,401(+3.1%)
23,880(-2.4%)
2,986(+2%)
2019
2,923,845(+4.9%)
24,450(+2.4%)
3,457(+15.8%)
2020
906,651(-68.9%)
12,307(-49.6%)
3,904(+12.9%)
2021
1,463,207(+61.4%)
17,540(+42.5%)
5,670(+45.2%)
2022
2,644,968(+80.8%)
23,787(+35.6%)
6,935.4(+22.3%)
2023
3,240,750(+22.5%)
27,464(+15.5%)
7,417.7(+6.9%)
Monthly traffic figures (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024)[44][45][46]
Month 2018 2019 2020 Change
2020
vs. 2019 		2021 Change
2021
vs. 2020 		2022 Change
2022
vs. 2021 		2023 Change
2023
vs. 2022 		2024 Change
2024
vs. 2023 		YTD (2024)
January 182,333 185,431 190,848   2.9% 40,321   78.9% 107,538   166.7% 200,655   86.6% 207,451   3.4% 207,451
February 173,890 177,633 180,148   1.4% 29,333   83.7% 92,718   216.1% 187,686   102.4% 203,685   8.5% 411,136
March 203,030 200,022 85,204   57.4% 37,954   55.5% 133,304   251.2% 211,882   58.9% 222,883   5.2% 634,019
April 231,369 234,610 14,370   93.9% 64,437   348.4% 222,519   245.3% 280,072   25.9% 246,199   12.1% 880,218
May 242,150 259,347 14,730   94.3% 83,300   465.5% 241,694   190.1% 289,749   19.9% 271,017   6.5% 1,151,235
June 266,085 280,557 18,710   93.3% 130,314   596.6% 262,709   101.6% 310,316   18.1% 297,519   4.1% 1,448,754
July 296,094 304,585 83,953   72.4% 216,829   158.3% 295,549   36.3% 349,951   18.4% 339,456   2.9% 1,788,210
August 296,242 312,214 100,311   67.9% 249,863   149.1% 338,127   35.3% 356,078   5.3% 354,961   0.3% 2,143,171
September 277,735 295,643 83,277   71.8% 223,490   148.5% 286,280   28.1% 315,461   10.2% 354,954   12.5% 2,498,125
October 245,972 262,055 56,927   78.3% 152,400   167.7% 262,409   72.2% 290,999   10.9%
November 179,725 205,780 28,375   86.2% 103,870   264.6% 198,842   91.4% 227,778   14.6%
December 187,776 205,967 49,798   75.8% 131,096   208.8% 203,279   55.1% 220,123   8.3%
Busiest routes from Avram Iancu International Airport (2018)
Rank Airport Passengers Carriers
1   Bucharest 490,428 Blue Air, TAROM, Wizz Air
2   London - Luton 315,630 Blue Air, Wizz Air
3   Munich 163,917 Lufthansa
4   Bergamo 110,588 Wizz Air
5   Paris - Beauvais 101,013 Wizz Air
6   Barcelona 93,467 Vueling, Wizz Air
7   Bologna 77,194 Wizz Air
8   Rome - Ciampino Airport 69,914 Wizz Air
9   Charleroi 69,507 Wizz Air
10   Madrid 66,463 Wizz Air
11   Dortmund 66,453 Wizz Air
12   Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion Airport 65,944 Blue Air, Wizz Air
13   Eindhoven 50,554 Wizz Air
14   Dublin 48,930 Blue Air
15   Frankfurt am Main Airport 48,732 Lufthansa
16   Basel/Mulhouse Airport 45,367 Wizz Air
17   Valencia 43,355 Wizz Air
18   Zaragoza 43,198 Wizz Air
Source: Eurostat [1]
Busiest routes by country from Avram Iancu International Airport (2022)
Rank Country Passengers 2022 Carriers
1   United Kingdom 383,345 Blue Air, Ryanair, Wizz Air
2   Spain 357,733 Blue Air, Wizz Air
3   Germany 357,131 Lufthansa, Wizz Air
4   Italy 319,934 Wizz Air
5   Romania 313,026 Blue Air, HiSky, TAROM
6   France 206,659 Blue Air, Wizz Air
7   Belgium 74,248 Wizz Air
8   Greece 71,034 Animawings, Blue Air, Hello Air, Hello Jet, HiSky, Tarom, Wizz Air
9   Turkey 68,394 Aerro Direck, Air Bucharest, Animawings, Blue Air, Corendon Airlines, Hello Jet, HiSky, Tailwind, Tarom
10   Ireland 59,756 Blue Air, HiSky, Ryanair
Source: Eurostat [2]

Ground transportation

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RATUC bus route 8

Road

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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.

Public transportation

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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 Main 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 the 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.[47]
  • On 7 January 2016, a Blue Air Boeing 737-400, reg. YR-BAS, skidded off the runway after landing. No injuries were reported amongst the 116 passengers and crew. The accident's cause was the performance of an extended flare flight, followed by the runway touchdown at a distance of about 2300 ft. (approx. 700 m) measured from runway threshold 25. The wet snow layer present on the runway may have contributed to the accident.[48]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b New RWY at Cluj-Napoca International Airport at Romanian CAA
  2. ^ a b "EAD Basic - Error Page". www.ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Traficul aerian pe aeroporturile din România în anul 2023".
  4. ^ "Cum se va numi de azi aeroportul din Cluj". Ziua de Cluj. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Stoica, Horia (March 5, 2021). "Aeroportul Cluj a fost înființat în 1932. Cum arăta atunci și cum a evoluat". Știri de Cluj (in Romanian). Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  6. ^ Royal Hungarian Ministry of Defense, under the law. LXVIII, 1912, Art. 19. document No. 447238/1917
  7. ^ Gaal György: Kolozsvár kétezer esztendeje dátumokban, in: Dáné Tibor Kálmán (et al., szerk.): Kolozsvár 1000 éve (A 2000. október 13–14-én rendezett konferencia előadásai) (Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, Magyar Közművelődési Egyesület, Kolozsvár, 2001) 351. o. ISBN 973-8231-14-0
  8. ^ a b c Kristina Reștea (3 January 2016). "Cum arăta Aeroportul din Cluj acum 70 de ani". actualdecluj.ro (in Romanian).
  9. ^ "Aeroportul clujean, asaltat de pasageri". Citynews. January 5, 2009. Archived from the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  10. ^ "Aeroportul International Avram Iancu Cluj". Aeroportul International Cluj Napoca. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Cluj-Napoca Airport has a new departures terminal". Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Terminal de pasageri de 15 mil. euro, pe aeroportul Cluj-Napoca". ZF.ro.
  13. ^ "Cu pasagerul 1.000.000, Aeroportul Cluj devine lider regional". www.ziuadecj.ro. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  14. ^ "Aeroportul International Avram Iancu Cluj". Aeroportul International Cluj Napoca. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  15. ^ "Noua pistă a Aeroportului Cluj-Napoca, inaugurată în 26 octombrie. Traficul va creşte cu 5% pe an". monitorulcj.ro. September 19, 2013.
  16. ^ Bogdan Buburuz (31 March 2014). "Proiect SF al turnului de control de pe Aeroportul Cluj. Urmează modelul unui far în port – FOTO". Vocea Transilvaniei. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Cum va arăta noul turn de control al Aeroportului "Avram Iancu" Cluj (FOTO)". CityNews.ro. 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  18. ^ "FOTO - Cum va arăta noul turn de control al Aeroportului Internațional "Avram Iancu" Cluj". monitorulcj.ro. 31 March 2014.
  19. ^ a b Marius Septimiu Avram (20 June 2023). "Aeroportul Avram Iancu îşi extinde terminalul de pasageri". agerpres.ro (in Romanian).
  20. ^ "Cluj International Airport is celebrating its 3,000,000th passenger for the absolute first time in 2023 and becomes the first regional airport in Romania to exceed this significant passenger threshold". airportcluj.ro. 24 November 2014.
  21. ^ Călin Poenaru (20 June 2023). "Aeroportul Cluj își modernizează terminalul și îl pregătește pe cel nou". transilvaniabusiness.ro (in Romanian).
  22. ^ airportcluj.ro - Flight Schedule. Retrieved 06 August 2022
  23. ^ airportcluj.ro - Destinations retrieved 23 October 2022
  24. ^ "AeroexpressRegional Begins Operation in 5 Sept 2022".
  25. ^ "airBaltic va zbura de la Riga". BoardingPass. 4 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Animawings: Bucharest - Cluj, Iași, Oradea, Paris, Larnaca from September 2024". boardingpass.ro. 15 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Corendon Airlines va zbura din Cluj Napoca spre Antalya din mai 2022". 31 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Corendon Airlines: Rute din București și Cluj Napoca spre Gazipasa și Antalya în 2024". 11 March 2024.
  29. ^ "HiSky will operate scheduled and charter flights from Cluj Napoca". boardingpass.ro. 22 February 2021.
  30. ^ "HiSky anunČ›Äƒ trei rute pe care le va opera din BucureČ™ti din 2022". Boardingpass.ro. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  31. ^ "HiSky: Zboruri pe ruta Cluj Napoca - Tel Aviv din decembrie 2022". 27 October 2022.
  32. ^ a b "HiSky will operate charter flights for Amara Tour from for airports in the country". boardingpass.ro. 23 February 2021.
  33. ^ a b c "Ryanair va inaugura trei rute noi din Cluj Napoca în martie 2023". 9 December 2022.
  34. ^ "Ryanair va zbura din noiembrie 2022 pe ruta Cluj Napoca - Dublin". 4 October 2022.
  35. ^ "SKY EXPRESS NS24 ROMANIA CHARTER NETWORK EXPANSION".
  36. ^ a b "SKY EXPRESS NS23 ROMANIA CHARTER NETWORK EXPANSION".
  37. ^ "Swiss a pus la vânzare biletele pentru zborurile dintre Cluj Napoca și Zurich". 13 September 2023.
  38. ^ "Air Serbia / TAROM Expands Codeshare Network From Jan 2024". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  39. ^ a b c d "Wizz Air: Cinci rute noi din București și Cluj Napoca din octombrie 2024". 11 July 2024.
  40. ^ a b "Wizz Air NS24 Network Additions Summary – 14JUL24".
  41. ^ "Wizz Air suspendă rute din București și Cluj Napoca în octombrie 2023". 28 September 2023.
  42. ^ "primariacj.ro" (PDF). www.primariacj.ro. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 27, 2012.
  43. ^ ORDIN 169/1.801. Planul national de actiune privind reducerea emisiilor de gaze cu efect de seră în domeniul aviatiei civile Archived 2021-06-17 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
  44. ^ "Anna.aero database". Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  45. ^ "Anker-report.com EATS-European Airport Traffic Statistics". The Anker Report.
  46. ^ "AAR News".
  47. ^ aviation-safety.net - Accident description retrieved 10 July 2016
  48. ^ "2016.01.07 Incident grav, Boeing 737-430, YR-BAS, Aeroportul Internațional "Avram Iancu" Cluj, Cluj, România". www.aias.gov.ro. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
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