Cluj-Napoca International Airport

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Cluj-Napoca International Airport
Aeroportul Internaţional Cluj-Napoca


Terminal building


Airport logo
IATA: CLJ – ICAO: LRCL
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Cluj County Council
Operator Romanian Civil Aviation Authority
Serves Cluj-Napoca
Location Someşeni area, Cluj-Napoca
Elevation AMSL 315 m / 1,036 ft
Coordinates 46°47′06″N, 023°41′10″E
Website www.airportcluj.ro
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,100 6,890 Concrete
Statistics (2007)
Passengers 390,521

Cluj-Napoca International Airport (IATA: CLJ, ICAO: LRCL) serves the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was initially known as Someşeni Airport as it is located 8 km east of the city centre in the Someşeni area, which is now within the Cluj-Napoca city limits. In terms of traffic, it is the fourth airport in Romania, after Bucharest Henri Coandă, Timişoara and Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu. Its size and location (on the European route E576) makes it the main airport in Transylvania (north-western Romania).

Contents

[edit] History

Cluj-Napoca 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.

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

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 Chernivtsi-Cluj-Arad using Lockheed L-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.

During World War II, the airport became a military airport, being considered 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. In October 1944, the Hungarian forces in the city were defeated by the Romanian and Soviet armies. By the time of the re-conquest 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 modernisation of the airport begun. In 1969 the new passenger terminal was opened and by 1970 the airport was fully equipped with all the safety facilities.

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 modernised and the 1st category Instrument Landing System was implemented.

In 2006 the airport director, David Ciceo, stated in Evenimentul Zilei that the runway length had been extended from 1,850 m to 2,100 m.[1] However, as of February 2007 the Romanian Aeronautical Information Publication, as used by the International Civil Aviation Organization and pilots worldwide, was still listing the runway length as 1,850 m.[2]

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Destinations map as of December 2007. Flights operated by TAROM,Carpatair, and Wizz Air.
Destinations map as of December 2007. Flights operated by TAROM,Carpatair, and Wizz Air.

[edit] Scheduled airlines

[edit] Charter airlines

[edit] Cargo airlines

TNT Airways and TAROM Cargo operate cargo facilities at the Cluj-Napoca airport.

[edit] Development

  • The construction of the new "Schengen" terminal started on 26 June 2007. According to official statements it will cover some 10,000 square meters, and its construction is supposed to be finalised by April 2008.[3] The arrivals terminal was inaugurated on May 22, 2008, 12:00 (local time)[4]. The new departures terminal is expected to be inaugurated in September 2008.
  • A new 3,500 metres long runway and a cargo terminal (including a Nokia cargo terminal) are planned to be built. According to Nokia, the company wants to operate at least 2 daily cargo flights from Cluj-Napoca Airport.[5]
  • Local authorities confirmed on 21 September 2007 that they received a visit from a group of officials from Vienna International Airport who showed their interest in buying Cluj Napoca International Airport. [6]

[edit] Statistics

Since becoming an international airport, in September 1996, the airport has experienced some very significant increases in terms of traffic. For example in 2003, compared to the previous year, the number of passengers increased by 22%, and cargo activity increased by 37% for merchandise (90.7 tonnes) and 126.1% for postal mail (15.6 metric tons). These increases were the highest in Romania. The increase in movements in the same year (6.1%) came second in Romania, after Timişoara (31.3%).

In 2007, the Cluj airport had the most spectacular evolution in recent years, with a growth of 60% from 2006.

Year Passengers Movements Cargo
(tonnes)
without transit including transit
1999 59,353 n/a n/a n/a
2000 75,750 n/a n/a n/a
2001 90,128 n/a n/a n/a
2002 105,091 106,776 4,127 73.1
2003 121,037 130,267 4,379 106.3
2004 162,668 177,862 6.697 n/a
2005 202,556 n/a 8,018 313.0
2006 244,366 n/a n/a n/a
2007 390,521 n/a n/a n/a

[edit] Ground transportation

[edit] Car

The airport is located 8 km east of the city centre on the European route E576. The drive from the city centre takes about 20 minutes. Passengers driving to the airport can use the car park located in the immediate vicinity of the terminal building. The prices are 2 lei for a stay between 1 and 30 min, 4 lei for 30 min-1 hour, 12 lei for 1-2 hours, 16 lei for 2-5 hours, 25 lei for 5-18 hours, 35 lei for 18-24 hours, 100 lei for 1-7 days, 170 lei for 7-14 days, and 340 lei for 14-30 days.

[edit] Bus

RATUC bus route 8
RATUC bus route 8

The airport bus stop is approximately 100 metres from the terminal building. After exiting the terminal building, walk 50 metres through the car park to the main road, turn right, then walk another 50 metres west along the main road.

RATUC, the local public transport company, operates its Route No. 8 that connects the airport with the Mihai Viteazul Square in the city centre. The No. 8 bus runs every 30 minutes, from 5:30 to 22:30 on Monday-Friday and from 5:30 to 22:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The travel time between the airport and the city centre is approximately 30 minutes.

[edit] Taxi

There are usually a wide range of taxis waiting in the airport car park, just off the terminal building. Some of them have significantly higher tariffs than the others, therefore it is advisable to only use the ones clearly displaying the tariff, usually about 1.8 lei (approximately 0.5 Euros) per kilometre.

[edit] Rent a car

Car rental services are available in the terminal building from Autorent, Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Dollar-Thrifty, Rodna Trans, Jettour, Romana Impex.

[edit] Passengers Facilities

  • Snack bar
  • Exchange office
  • Rent a car
  • ATM: BancPost and Banca Transilvania (accepts MasterCard, Visa, Maestro)
  • Travel agency: Wens Tour
  • Customs commissionaires: Express Spedition, Napotrans, World Media Trans
  • Courier service: TNT
  • Handicraft articles and publications: UAP, Vitrina Advertising

[edit] Latest News

  • Starting March 28 MALEV will operate its own flights to/from Budapest Ferihegy Airport, on a 2x schedule, upgrading the equipment to Fokker 70 (afternoon flight) and Saab 2000 (morning flight)
  • Starting March 31 Lufthansa will operate a daily flight from/to Munich
  • On November 13th, Wizz Air moved all their operations to/from Târgu Mureş to Cluj-Napoca.[7] Moreover, starting with May 2008, Wizzair will set up its second base in Romania at Cluj, permanently positioning an Airbus A320 aircraft here.
  • According to statements made by airport officials, Germanwings are considering to start operating from Cluj-Napoca Airport in 2008, but the destinations (probably their hubs Koln, Stuttgart, Berlin and/or Hamburg) and flight frequencies have not been made public yet.
  • Other companies rumoured to plan operations to/from Cluj are Czech Airlines (Prague), British Airways (London Gatwick) and Lufthansa (Frankfurt)

[edit] Accidents and Incidents

  • On 5 September 1986, at about 17:00, 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 deboarding 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 Hosu, 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.

[edit] Picture Gallery

Terminal building (front view)

Terminal building (back view)

Airport Concourse, as seen from bar on first floor

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Aeroportul Cluj trece la categoria semigrea", Evenimentul Zilei, 2006, September 5. Retrieved on 2007-02-15. 
  2. ^ "Romanian AIP, Aerodrome Text Data LRCL-2-7-6 8 June 2006" from the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
  3. ^ Terminalul de pasageri al Aeroportului International Cluj-Napoca va fi finalizat in 9 luni | ZF 24 | Ziarul Financiar
  4. ^ http://www.airportcluj.ro/index.php?section=3&page=12
  5. ^ Nokia are nevoie de un terminal cargo pe aeroportul din Cluj | Business Hi-Tech | Ziarul Financiar
  6. ^ Ziua de Cluj: Vienezii vor sa cumpere aeroportul din Cluj | Prima Pagina | Ziarul Financiar
  7. ^ http://wizzair.com/breaking%5Fnews/ Wizz Air moves its operations from Tirgu-Mures to Cluj
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