| Craiova International Airport | |
| Nativename: | Aeroportul Internaţional Craiova |
| Image2-Width: | 250 |
| Iata: | CRA |
| Icao: | LRCV |
| Pushpin Map: | Romania |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Romania |
| Pushpin Label: | CRA |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Consiliul Judeţean Dolj |
| City-Served: | Craiova, Romania |
| Focus City: | Wizz Air |
| Elevation-F: | 626 |
| Elevation-M: | 191 |
| Website: | www.aeroportcraiova.ro |
| Metric-Rwy: | Y |
| R1-Number: | 09/27 |
| R1-Length-F: | 8,203 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,500 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2023 |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 598,005 |
| Stat2-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat2-Data: | 5,260 39.9% |
| Footnotes: | Source: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[1] Statistics[2] [3] |
Craiova International Airport is located in the south-western part of Romania, 7km (04miles) east[1] 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.
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 2000m (7,000feet) 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 2500m (8,200feet). Between 1972 and 1989, other airport facilities were built.[4]
From 1995, the airport was opened to domestic and international traffic, serving only charter flights.[4] A new terminal was opened at Craiova airport in December 2010.[5] 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[6] which had operated since November 2016 and consisted of a single route to Valencia.
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Craiova Airport:[7]
| Year | Passengers | Change | Aircraft movements | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 5,133 | ||||
| 2008 | 12,988 | 153% | |||
| 2009 | 15,130 | 16.4% | |||
| 2010 | 23,629 | 56.1% | |||
| 2011 | 32,006 | 35.4% | |||
| 2012 | 29,626 | 7.4% | 3,394 | ||
| 2013 | 40,291 | 35.9% | 2,246 | 33.9% | |
| 2014 | 138,886 | 244.7% | 3,506 | 56.1% | |
| 2015 | 116,947 | 15.8% | 2,999 | 14.5% | |
| 2016 | 222,320 | 90.1% | 4,018 | 33.9% | |
| 2017 | 447,227 | 101.1% | 5,960 | 48.3% | |
| 2018 | 493,056 | 10.2% | 6,793 | 14% | |
| 2019 | 514,544 | 4.3% | 6,779 | 0.2% | |
| 2020[8] | 159,552 | 68.9% | 3,758 | 44.5% | |
| 2021 | 191,510 | 20.0% | 5,260 | 39.6% |
| Rank | Airport | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
See main article: Craiova Air Base. 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.
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.[9]