- M. R. Štefánik Airport
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M. R. Štefánik Airport
Letisko M. R. Štefánika
Bratislava Airport
Letisko Bratislava
IATA: BTS – ICAO: LZIB Location of the airport in Slovakia
BTSSummary Airport type Public Operator Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS) Location Bratislava Hub for Elevation AMSL 436 ft / 133 m Coordinates 48°10′12″N 017°12′46″E / 48.17°N 17.21278°ECoordinates: 48°10′12″N 017°12′46″E / 48.17°N 17.21278°E Website Runways Direction Length Surface m ft 04/22 2,900 9,515 Concrete 13/31 3,190 10,466 Concrete Statistics (2010) Passengers 1,665,644 Cargo 17,717 tonnes Aircraft movements 27,220 Slovakian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] 
Departure terminal
Check-in area at Bratislava Airport
Control towerM. R. Štefánik Airport (Slovak: Letisko M. R. Štefánika) (IATA: BTS, ICAO: LZIB), also called – especially in English – Bratislava Airport (Slovak: Letisko Bratislava) or Bratislava-Ivanka, located 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of Bratislava Castle in Bratislava is the main international airport of Slovakia. Scheduled and non-scheduled domestic and international air connections are provided to destinations in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. The scheduled flights are operated by Czech Airlines, DanubeWings, El Al, Ryanair and UT Air. Travel Service also sells some seats on its charters as scheduled through its Smart Wings affiliate.
The airport is named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik (since 1993), whose aircraft crashed near Bratislava in 1919. The airport is run by the Letisko M. R. Štefánika - Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS)[2] a public limited company. Until May 2004, the airport was run by the state-run entity Slovenská správa letísk (Slovak Airport Administration). In 2010, the airport served 1,665,644 passengers equating to an average 19% annual increase every year since 2000 (but a gradual decrease from 2008 – see table below). It is a base of AirExplore, Czech Airlines, Opera Jet, Sayegh Aviation Europe - whose flights operate under the Samair brand, Slovak Government Flying Service, Travel Service (Slovakia), VIP Wings - whose flights operate under the DanubeWings name and VR Jet; and was the primary base of Air Slovakia, Central Charter Airlines Slovakia Seagle Air, Sirocco Aviation, SkyEurope Airlines and Slovak Airlines until each of these airlines ceased flights between 2008 and 2011. Slovakia has no flag carrier but temporarily the biggest scheduled carrier from the country is Czech Airlines, the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Austrian Technik Bratislava (ATB) and East Air Company – both maintenance companies for third parties are also based at the airport. ATB does maintenance on Fokker 70, Fokker 100 and Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft, while East Air does maintenance on Pipers and Let 410. Bratislava airport is open 24 hours.
Contents
Location
Bratislava Airport is located 9 km (5.6 mi) to the north-east from the city center, covering an area of 4.77 km2 (1.84 sq mi). It is known for its extraordinarily good climatic conditions.
It is located within a one-hour drive of Vienna (Austria), Brno (Czech Republic) and Győr (Hungary), covering a catchment area of four countries.
Characteristics
The first regular flight between Prague and Bratislava occurred in 1923, by the new-formed carrier Czechoslovak Airlines. At that time the airport for Bratislava was in Vajnory, about 3 km away from the current airport. This airport is now closed. Preparatory works for the current airport started in 1947 and construction began in 1948, with two runways constructed (04/22, 1900 m and 13/31, 1500 m) and the airport was opened in 1951.
Today, it serves both scheduled and unscheduled, domestic and international flights. The current runways enable the landing of virtually all types of aircraft used in the world today (except Airbus A380, Antonov An-225 and Boeing 747-8). The airport is category 4E for aircraft, and category 7 or 8 on request in terms of potential rescue.
The airport features two perpendicular runways (04/22 and 13/31), both of which underwent a complete reconstruction in the 1980s. Runway 13/31 is equipped for ICAO category IIIA approach and landing, while 04/22 is category I.
The airport has three terminals: Departure terminal A, built in 1970 was demolished in January 2011 and is now being replaced by the second phase of the new terminal, arrival terminal B (used for non-Schengen arrivals), built in 1994 and arrival terminal C (used for Schengen arrivals), built in 2006. A new terminal facility (B) and control tower was added in the 1990s. A new building linking the departure terminal with arrival terminal B has been finished in November 2008 and houses different Slovak travel agencies plus a post office. The number of passengers served decreased temporarily in the early 1990s due to competition by the nearby Vienna International Airport (which is only some 55 km (34 mi) distant from Bratislava Airport), but it is quickly increasing since. In 2005, the airport served 1 326 493 passengers, and in 2008 - 2 218 545 passengers. Nevertheless, due to the economic downturn and the collapse of SkyEurope Airlines, Air Slovakia and Seagle Air, the number of passengers has declined to 1 665 704 in 2010.
Amenities and facilities: bureaux de change, first aid, left luggage, baggage wrapping, lost baggage, restaurant, bars, cafés, VIP lounge, airport business club, duty-free shop, smaller shop, post office, news agents and car rental facilities. There are also facilities for the disabled. The parking lot near the terminal has 970 places and is used for short- and long-term parking. A new terminal is being constructed. The first phase has been completed in 2010 and the second one should be by 2012. Once completed, the capacity will double from aproximatelly 2.5 to over 5 million passengers per annum. Visualisation can be viewed here.
Two (not general aviation) aircraft ground handling companies operate at the airport: Airport Bratislava handling (handles Air Arabia Egypt, Bulgarian Air Charter, Nouvelair, Onur Air, Ryanair, Samair, Sky Airlines, Travel Service, Tunisair, UT Air and DHL flights), Skyport (handles AirExplore, CSA Czech Airlines, DanubeWings, El Al, Nesma Airlines and Slovak Government Flying Service flights).
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled service
Airlines Destinations Czech Airlines Amsterdam, Larnaca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle DanubeWings Košice
summer seasonal: Split, ZadarEl Al Tel Aviv (does not operate Dec. 11 / Jan. 12) Norwegian Air Shuttle Copenhagen [begins 3 May 2012], Oslo-Gardermoen [begins 28 March 2012] Ryanair Beauvais, Bergamo, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels-South Charleroi, Dublin, Edinburgh, Gran Canaria, Liverpool, London-Luton, London-Stansted, Rome-Ciampino
summer seasonal: Alicante, Alghero, Girona, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, TrapaniTravel Service Slovakia summer seasonal: Tel Aviv UTair Aviation Moscow-Vnukovo Cargo airlines
Airlines Destinations DHL Aviation
operated by European Air TransportLeipzig/Halle, Sofia DHL Aviation
operated by SwiftairBrussels Charter airlines
winter 2011/12 list
Airlines Destinations Onurair Antalya (does not operate Dec. 11/ Jan. 12) Samair Agadir (Christmas and New Year only), Athens (Christmas and New Year only), Hurghada VIP and other operators
The airport is also the base for the Slovak Government Flying Service. It is also served by Air Transport Europe on air rescue operations and the Slovak police bases some of its helicopters at BTS.
Other carriers operate on ad-hoc passenger and freight charter flights and GAT flights (e.g. NetJets).
Statistics
Passengers and cargo since 1997 Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 I-IX 2011 Passengers 285,983 324,219 276,092 283,714 293,326 368,203 480,011 893,614 1,326,493 1,937,642 2,024,142 2,218,545 1,710,018 1,665,644 1,320,552 Cargo (tonnes) 1,641 1,443 1,605 2,878 3,171 4,831 10,736 6,972 3,633 5,055 1,969 6,961 11,903 17,717 15,101 Ground transportation
Bratislava Airport can be reached from the city centre, which is by road 9 km (5.6 mi) away, or from D1 motorway. Public transportation line No. 61 connects the airport to the city centre and the main railway station during the day. Bus No. 96 operates from Petržalka. At night the airport is served by bus N61 from the main railway station. Terravision ltd, and Blaguss also operate from this airport to Vienna, with Slovak Lines in cooperation with Austrian Postbus (together operated route) also operate a few departures a day to Vienna. Slovak Lines also operates to destinations around Slovakia. There is a taxi stand just near the entrance to the airport with Danube Taxi and Breadis Taxi companies.
Accidents and incidents
Security check-point at Bratislava Airport- On May 4, 1919, M.R. Štefánik crashed on approach to Vajnory Airport, the predecessor to M. R. Štefánik Airport. Many rumors about his death exist.
- On 24 November 1966, an Il-18 on multi-leg TABSO Flight 101 from Sofia to East Berlin via Budapest and Prague crashed into the forested foothills of Little Carpathians west of the airport shortly after take-off from Bratislava Airport, where it had been grounded due to bad weather in Prague. All 74 passengers and eight crew members died.
- On 28 July 1976, an Il-18 on ČSA Flight OK-NAB from Prague crashed into the Zlaté Piesky lake just north-west of the airport while executing a go-around. 69 of 73 passengers and six crew members died in the crash. Two passengers later died in the hospital.
- On 20 October 1977, an Mi-8 helicopter inbound for landing with wife of the then President of Czechoslovakia Gustáv Husák crashed in dense fog and darkness into a maize field about 300 m (980 ft) short of the runway. All four passengers died.
- On 7 February 1999, a Boeing 707 aircraft crashed on takeoff from BTS. No one was injured.[3]
- On 6 June 1999, a BAE Hawk 200 aircraft crashed during SIAD '99 air show killing the pilot and one female spectator on the ground that was swept off the roof by explosion.[4]
Gallery
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Former departure terminal (demolished January 2011)
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Control tower (front view)
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In the background Boeing 737-700NG OM-NGJ SkyEurope
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Arrivals/departures information table
References
External links
- Bratislava Airport (official site, Slovak/English)
- www.slovak-airports.net (unofficial site about Slovak airports, Slovak/English/Italian)
- Schedule of flights to/from Bratislava Airport (unofficial site)
- Current weather for LZIB at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for BTS at Aviation Safety Network
Airports in Slovakia
Bratislava Štefánik • Bratislava Vajnory • Košice • Lučenec-Bol'kovce • Malacky (air base) • Martin • Nitra • Piešťany • Poprad-Tatry • Prievidza • Senica • Sliač • Trenčín • ŽilinaCategories:- Transport in Bratislava
- Buildings and structures in Bratislava
- Airports in Slovakia
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