Graz Airport

Graz Airport
Flughafen Graz
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Holding Graz - Kommunale Dienstleistungen GmbH
and
GSU Gesellschaft für Strategische Unternehmensbeteiligungen m.b.H
Operator Flughafen Graz Betriebs GmbH
Serves Graz, Austria
Location Feldkirchen, Kalsdorf
Elevation AMSL 340 m / 1,115 ft
Coordinates 46°59′35″N 015°26′21″E / 46.99306°N 15.43917°E / 46.99306; 15.43917 (Graz Airport)Coordinates: 46°59′35″N 015°26′21″E / 46.99306°N 15.43917°E / 46.99306; 15.43917 (Graz Airport)
Website flughafen-graz.at
Map
GRZ
Location of airport in Austria
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
17L/35R 640 2,100 Grass
17C 2,740 8,989 Asphalt
35C 3,000 9,842 Asphalt
17R/35L 760 2,493 Grass
Statistics (2017)
Aircraft movements 14,466 Increase 0.2%
Passengers 959,166 Decrease -2.3%
Cargo (including
road feeder service,
metric tons)		 8,899 Decrease -2.8%
Sources: Austrian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1], Graz airport[2][3]

Graz Airport (IATA: GRZ, ICAO: LOWG), known as Flughafen Graz in German, is a primary international airport serving southern Austria. It is located near Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, in the municipalities of Feldkirchen and Kalsdorf, 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) south[1] of Graz city centre.

Location

Graz Airport spans the village Abtissendorf in Feldkirchen municipality and the cadastral community Thalerhof in Kalsdorf municipality. The airport terminal is located in Abtissendorf.

History

Early years

The construction of the airport began in 1913 with the construction of a grass runway and the first hangars; the airport saw its first flight in 1914. It was the site of the Thalerhof internment camp, run by the governments of Franz Joseph I of Austria and Charles I of Austria. The first domestic passenger flight in Austria in 1925 serviced the route Vienna–Graz–Klagenfurt. In 1930 Yugoslav flag-carrier Aeroput introduced regular flights linking Yugoslav capital Belgrade with Vienna with stops in Zagreb and Graz.[4][5] In 1937, the construction of a terminal building began due to increase in the number of passengers.

After the end of the Second World War, however, Austria was forbidden to possess an aviation fleet, neither military nor civil. After reopening of Austrian airspace in 1951, a new concrete runway of 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) was built in Graz. This runway was extended to 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) in 1962. The route network grew quickly and the first international scheduled flight started in 1966 with a connection to Frankfurt.

In 1969, the runway was extended again, this time to 2,500 metres (8,202 ft), and construction of a new terminal building became necessary. Special highlights were visits by the Concorde in 1981 and by a Boeing 747 on the occasion of the airport's 70th anniversary in 1984. Ten years later, another new building was constructed with a maximum capacity of 750,000 passengers a year. The latest extension of the runway was to 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) in 1998.

Development in the 2000s

In early 21st century, the number of passengers exceeded the 750,000-mark and in 2004 was just below 900,000. This led to the final extension of the current terminal building in 2003 and the construction of a second terminal in 2005.

In summer 2015, the airport received two new routes to European hubs; Swiss International Air Lines to Zurich[6] and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul Atatürk Airport.[7]

Facilities

The passenger terminal building features shops, travel agencies, a restaurant and cafés, a bank, car rental and service counters. The apron provides stands for aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747. There are no jet bridges, mobile stairways are used for boarding.

Airlines and destinations

Check-in area
Rooftop viewing area
Control tower

The following airlines offer regular scheduled, seasonal, and charter flights at Graz Airport:[8]

AirlinesDestinations
Adria Airways Seasonal charter: Kephalonia
Air Cairo Seasonal charter: Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Sharm el Sheikh
Astra Airlines Seasonal charter: Paros
Austrian Airlines Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Vienna
Seasonal charter: Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik,[9] Heraklion, Kos, Naples, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Thessaloniki,[10] Zakynthos
Bulgarian Air Charter Seasonal charter: Burgas
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya
Croatia Airlines Seasonal charter: Brač
easyJet Berlin-Tegel[11]
Eurowings Seasonal: Heraklion, Palma de Mallorca
FlyEgypt Seasonal charter: Hurghada
KLM Amsterdam
Laudamotion Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca[12]
Lufthansa Munich
People's Seasonal charter: Ibiza
Small Planet Airlines Seasonal charter: Heraklion, Kos, Rhodes
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Tailwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
Tunisair Seasonal charter: Monastir
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk

Ground transportation

Bus

A bus stop for public transport to/from Graz can be found next to the arrival area.[13] Another bus stop, called Abtissendorf Abzweigung Flughafen, is located 718 metres from the airport and is being served by additional bus lines.

Train

The airport is within walking distance (534 metres, seven minutes on foot) of the Graz airport railway station on the S5 (Graz to Spielfeld-Straß) line. The travel time between the Graz airport railway station and Graz central station is eleven minutes.

Car

Graz Airport is accessible via motorways A9 (exit Kalsdorf) and A2 (exit Flughafen Graz/Feldkirchen).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 EAD Basic
  2. ↑ "Flughafen Graz: Verkehrsentwicklung 2017". Flughafen Graz (in German). Feldkirchen: Flughafen Graz Betriebs GmbH. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Zahlen, Daten, Fakten". Flughafen Graz (in German). Feldkirchen: Flughafen Graz Betriebs GmbH. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  4. ↑ Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput at europeanairlines.no
  5. ↑ "World Airlines Directory". Flight International. 10 August 1944. p. 150.
  6. ↑ Airline route Archived 11 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "Turkish Airlines Launches a New Route to Graz". Turkish Airlines (Press release). Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Destinationen". Flughafen Graz. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  9. ↑ https://myholiday.austrian.com/en/flights/timetable/von/GRZ/nach/DBV.html
  10. ↑ "Flight Graz - Saloniki/Thessaloniki - myAustrian Holidays". Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  11. ↑ EasyJet fliegt von Graz nach Berlin
  12. ↑ "Laudamotion outlines summer 2018 operations". routesonline.com. 16 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Public transport". Flughafen Graz. Retrieved 24 September 2015.

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