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Craiova International Airport

Craiova International Airport
Aeroportul Internaţional Craiova
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorConsiliul Judeţean Dolj
ServesCraiova, Romania
Opened1938 (1938)
Focus city forWizz Air
Elevation AMSL626 ft / 191 m
Coordinates44°19′05″N 023°53′19″E / 44.31806°N 23.88861°E / 44.31806; 23.88861 (Craiova International Airport)
Websitewww.aeroportcraiova.ro
Map
CRA is located in Romania
CRA
CRA
Location of airport in Romania
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,500 8,203 Asphalt
Statistics (2025)
Passengers[3]578,701 Increase[1]
Aircraft movements[3]7,320[2]
Source: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[4]
Statistics[5][6]

Craiova International Airport (IATA: CRA, ICAO: LRCV) is located in the south-western part of Romania, 7 km (4.3 mi) east[4] 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.

History

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 2,000 m (6,600 ft) 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 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Between 1972 and 1989, other airport facilities were built.[7]

From 1995, the airport was opened to domestic and international traffic, serving only charter flights.[7] A new terminal was opened at Craiova airport in December 2010.[8] Runway renovation works took place in summer 2015. Since July 2014, Craiova Airport is the base for Wizz Air which serves 14 destinations in 7 countries. In March 2018, Ryanair announced it would terminate all services at Craiova by October 2018[9] which had operated since November 2016 and consisted of a single route to Valencia.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Craiova Airport:[10]

AirlinesDestinations
AlbaStar Seasonal charter: Palma de Mallorca[11]
Nesma Airlines Seasonal charter: Hurghada[11]
Animawings Istanbul[12]

Seasonal: Heraklion[13]
Seasonal charter: Antalya; Monastir; Hurghada[14]

Cyprus Airways Seasonal charter: Larnaca[11]
HiSky Seasonal charter: Heraklion; Antalya[11]
Nouvelair Seasonal charter: Monastir[11]
Sky Express Seasonal charter: Heraklion[11]
SkyUp MTSeasonal charter: Heraklion[11]
Wizz Air Athens,[15] Barcelona (resumes 29 March 2026),[15] Bari,[16] Beauvais,[15] Bergamo,[17] Birmingham,[17] Bologna,[17] Charleroi,[17] Dortmund,[16] London–Luton,[17] Madrid,[18] Memmingen,[16] Naples,[15] Rome–Fiumicino,[17] Venice (begins 23 May 2026),[19]

Statistics

Passengers

Year Passengers Change Aircraft movements Change
2007 5,133
Steady
Steady
Steady
2008 12,988 153% Increase
Steady
Steady
2009 15,130 16.4% Increase
Steady
Steady
2010 23,629 56.1% Increase
Steady
Steady
2011 32,006 35.4% Increase
Steady
Steady
2012 29,626 7.4% Decrease 3,394
Steady
2013 40,291 35.9%Increase 2,246 33.9%Decrease
2014 138,886 244.7%Increase 3,506 56.1%Increase
2015 116,947 15.8%Decrease 2,999 14.5%Decrease
2016 222,320 90.1%Increase 4,018 33.9%Increase
2017 447,227 101.1%Increase 5,960 48.3%Increase
2018 493,056 10.2%Increase 6,793 14%Increase
2019 514,544 4.3%Increase 6,779 0.2%Decrease
2020[3] 159,552 68.9%Decrease 3,758 44.5%Decrease
2021[3] 191,510 20.0%Increase 5,260 39.6%Increase
2022 476,613 148.9%Increase 6,459 22.8%Increase
2023 597,990 25.5%Increase 7,604 17.7%Increase
2024 424,976 28.9%Decrease 6,722 11.6%Decrease
2025 578,701 36.2%Increase 7,320 8.9%Increase

Routes

Busiest Routes from Craiova International Airport (2019)
Rank Airport Passengers
1 United Kingdom London - Luton
142,678
2 Italy Bergamo
84,970
3 Italy Rome - Ciampino Airport
43,856
4 Spain Madrid
40,183
5 Italy Bologna
35,368

Military use

Main article: Craiova Air Base
Retired MiG-21 and IAR-93 aircraft at the base in 1996

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.

Ground transportation

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.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Traficul de pasageri pe aeroporturile din România în 2025" [Passenger traffic recorded by Romanian airports during 2025]. airportaar.ro (in Romanian). 3 February 2026. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Traficul de pasageri pe aeroporturile din România în 2025" [Passenger traffic recorded by Romanian airports during 2025]. airportaar.ro (in Romanian). 3 February 2026. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d "Situaţii statistice de aeroport pentru perioada 2017 – 2021" (PDF) (in Romanian).
  4. ^ a b EAD Basic
  5. ^ Craiova Airport in 2013 Archived 8 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine at newsair.ro (in Romanian)
  6. ^ ORDIN 169/1.801. Planul national de actiune privind reducerea emisiilor de gaze cu efect de seră în domeniul aviatiei civile Archived 17 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
  7. ^ a b "Istoric". aeroportcraiova.ro (in Romanian).
  8. ^ "Craiova: Noul terminal de plecări al aeroportului va fi inaugurat peste două săptămâni" [The New Terminal of the Airport Will be Inaugurated in Two Weeks]. Adevarul. 25 November 2010.
  9. ^ "Ryanair to stop flights from Oradea and Craiova, after closing Timisoara base". 16 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Craiova Airport flight schedule".. Retrieved on 6 August 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Zboruri din Craiova 2026 – chartere". Tropical Tour (in Romanian). Tropical Tour SRL. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  12. ^ Ion, Ioana (20 May 2025). "Animawings lansează zboruri Craiova-Istanbul, din toamnă. Cât costă un bilet" [Animawings launches Craiova-Istanbul flights this fall. How much does a ticket cost?]. Libertatea (in Romanian). Ringier Romania. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  13. ^ https://www.economica.net/animawings-zboruri-kefalonia_889605.html
  14. ^ "Zboruri din Craiova 2026 – chartere". Tropical Tour (in Romanian). Tropical Tour SRL. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d Tudor, Valentin (7 August 2025). "Aeroportul din Craiova prinde aripi: 2 curse noi şi 2 reluate, cu Wizz Air - Napoli, Atena, Barcelona, Paris" [Craiova Airport takes flight: two new routes and two resumed routes with Wizz Air – Naples, Athens, Barcelona, Paris]. GAZETA de SUD (in Romanian). Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  16. ^ a b c "Southern Romania: Wizz Air announces additional routes from Craiova". 11 December 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d e f "Craiova, Romania CRA". OAG Flight Guide Worldwide. 26 (11). Luton, United Kingdom: OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited: 285–285. May 2025. ISSN 1466-8718. OCLC 41608313.
  18. ^ Liu, Jim (17 January 2025). "Wizz Air NS25 Network Additions – 16JAN25". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  19. ^ https://www.profit.ro/povesti-cu-profit/auto-transporturi/wizz-air-anunta-in-romania-lansarea-unor-rute-noi-22319004
  20. ^ "RAT-Craiova bus schedule". Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
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