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M. R. Štefánik Airport

Milan Rastislav tefánik Airport
Bratislava Airport
Letisko Milana Rastislava tefánika
Letisko Bratislava

IATA: BTS ICAO: LZIB
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS)
Location Bratislava
Elevation AMSL 436 ft / 133 m
Coordinates 48°1012N 17°1245E / 48.17, 17.2125Coordinates: 48°1012N 17°1245E / 48.17, 17.2125
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 9,515 2,900 Concrete
13/31 10,466 3,190 Concrete

Milan Rastislav tefánik Airport (Slovak: Letisko Milana Rastislava tefánika) (IATA: BTS, ICAO: LZIB), also called - especially in English - Bratislava Airport (Slovak: Letisko Bratislava) or Bratislava-Ivanka, in Bratislava is the main international airport of Slovakia.

It is named after general Milan Rastislav tefánik (since 1993), whose aircraft crashed above Bratislava in 1919. The airport is run by the Letisko Milana Rastislava tefánika Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS), a public limited company. Till May 2004, the airport was run by the state-run entity Slovenská správa letísk (Slovak Airport Administration). In 2007, the airport served 2,024,142 passengers, representing a 4.5% increase compared to 2006 and almost a 700% increase compared to 2001.

Contents

Location

It is located 9 km (5.59 mi) to the north-east from the city center, covers an area of 4.77 km² (1.84 mi²) and is known for its extraordinarily good climatic conditions.

Bratislava Airport is located within a one-hour drive of Vienna (Austria), Brno (Czech Republic) and Gyr (Hungary), covering a catchment area of four countries (Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia).

Characteristics

The first regular flight between Prague and Bratislava of the Czechoslovak Airlines was done in 1923, to the Vajnory airport (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. 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 1971, 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 sterminal B has been finished in September 2008 and will also house different Slovak travel agencies there. 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/34.5 miles distant from Bratislava Airport), but it is quickly increasing since. In 2005, the airport served over 1 300 000 passengers, and in 2007 just above 2 million passengers. Further increase is expected this year, even though the problems in the aviation industry may lead to a decrease in the number of passengers in the next year(s).

Amenities and facilities: two bureaux de change, first aid, left luggage, lost baggage, restaurant, bars, cafés, VIP lounges, airport business clubs, duty-free shops, news agents and car rental. 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, with the first phase to be completed by 2010 and second by 2012. Visualisation can be viewed at the airport website: www.bts.aero

Two handling companies operate at the airport: Airport Bratislava handling and Slovak Air Services, a daughter company of Czech Airlines, which handles Czech Airlines, DanubeWings, Bulgarian Air Charter and Air Cairo and some ad - hoc charters.

Statistics

Passengers and cargo since 1997
Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 I-VIII. 2008
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 1,591,832
Cargo (tonnes) 1641 1443 1605 2878 3171 4831 10736 6972 3633 5055 1969 3860

Ground transportation

Bratislava Airport can be reached from the city centre, which is by road 12 km 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. At night the airport is served by bus N61. Terravision, Blaguss and Slovak Lines also operate from this airport to Vienna. There is a taxi stand just near the entrance to the airport with MB Taxi and Profi Taxi companies.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled service

Cargo airlines

Charter operators

(summer only, unless stated otherwise)

VIP and other operators

Former airlines and destinations

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 (e.g. Sun d´Or).

See also

External links

This article based on this article: M._R._%C5%A0tef%C3%A1nik_Airportexternal Link from the free encyclopedia Wikipediaexternal Link and work with the GNU Free Documentation License. In Wikipedia is this list of the authorsexternal Link.