Traian Vuia International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Timişoara Traian Vuia International Airport
nativename = Aeroportul Internaţional Timişoara Traian Vuia
IATA = TSR
ICAO = LRTR
type = Public
owner = Ministry of Transport
operator = Romanian Civil Aviation Authority
city-served = Timişoara
coordinates = coord|45|48|36|N|21|20|17|E|type:airport_region:RO
website = [http://www.aerotim.ro www.aerotim.ro]
metric-elev = yes
metric-rwy = yes
r1-number = 08/26
r1-length-f = 11,483
r1-length-m = 3,500
r1-surface = Concrete, Asphalt
stat-year = 2007
stat1-header = Passengers
stat1-data = 836.518
stat2-header = Aircraft movements
stat2-data = 32.711
footnotes =

Timişoara "Traian Vuia" International airport codes|TSR|LRTR (also known as Giarmata Airport) is Romania's second airport in terms of air traffic, after Bucharest Henri Coandă and the main air transportation hub for the western part of Romania. It is located in Timişoara, in the region of Banat, near the Hungarian and Serbian border. The airport was renamed on February 6, 2003 after the Romanian flight pioneer Traian Vuia, a Timiş County native.

History

Timişoara's first airport (Timişoara Communal Airport) was built a few kilometers away from the current airport's position, in the town of Moşniţa Veche. The first airplane landed there on July 17, 1935.The airport was rebuilt on its current position in the 1960s. The domestic flights terminal was opened in 1964. In 1980 the airport received International Airport status.

Traffic

In 2007 the airport served 836,518 [ [http://www.aerotim.ro/ro/despre/trafic/] Airport website ] passengers and is expected to reach the first million passengers in the following years. It has one of the biggest annual growth rate in terms of passenger traffic among Romanian airports (over 25%). TSR is one of the four airports in Romania capable of handling jumbo jets, the main airport for the Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisza euroregion and it is a back-up airport for Bucharest Otopeni Airport, Belgrade Airport and Budapest Airport.

Passenger numbers

* 2000 - 223.133;
* 2001 - 251.404 (+ 12,7%);
* 2002 - 269.320 (+ 7,1%);
* 2003 - 331.495 (+ 23,1%);
* 2004 - 403.050 (+ 21,6%);
* 2005 - 611.705 (+ 51,8%);
* 2006 - 753.934 (+ 23,3%);
* 2007 - 836.518 (+ 24,5%);

Airlines and destinations

Timişoara "Traian Vuia" is Carpatair's main hub.

cheduled airlines

International Departures Hall

*Austrian Airlines
**operated by Tyrolean Airways (Vienna) - codeshare with TAROM
*Carpatair (Ancona, Athens, Bari, Bologna, Chisinǎu, Dusseldorf, Florence, Frankfurt, Kiev-Zhuliany, Lviv, Milan-Bergamo, Munich, Odessa, Rome-Fiumicino, Stuttgart, Thessaloniki, Turin, Venice, Verona, Vienna)
*Lufthansa
**operated by Lufthansa CityLine (Munich) - codeshare with United Airlines
*Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest)
*Moldavian Airlines (Chisinau)
*Volare Airlines (Milan-Malpensa)
*Wizz Air (Barcelona [begins 19 February 2009] , Dortmund [begins 18 December 2008] , London-Luton [begins 27 October 2008] , Milan-Bergamo [begins 19 February 2009] , Paris-Beauvais [begins 20 February 2009] , Rome-Fiumicino [begins 17 February 2009] , Treviso [begins 19 February 2009] , Valencia [begins 22 February 2009] )

Domestic Flights Hall

*Carpatair (Bacau, Bucharest-Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca, Constanţa, Craiova, Iaşi, Oradea, Sibiu, Suceava)
*TAROM (Bucharest-Otopeni)

Cargo airlines

*ABC Air Hungary (Budapest)
*Farnair Hungary (Budapest, Zagreb)
*FedEx
*Kuehne-Nagel
*Sabiko International Air Cargo
*TAROM Cargo
*TNT Airways
*Tristar
*UPS World Media Trans

Charter airlines - summer 2008

*Air Malta (Malta-Luqa)
*Aegean Airlines (Corfu)
*Atlas Jet (Antalya)
*BlueAir (Antalya, Bodrum, Heraklion)
*Carpatair (Corfu, Thessaloniki, Rhodos)
*Jet Tran Air (Antalya, Izmir, Heraklion, Palma de Mallorca)
*Karthago Airlines (Monastir)
*Nouvelair (Monastir)
*Romavia (Zakynthos)

Former airlines and destinations

*Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa)
*Alpi Eagles (Venice)
*Blue Air (Bucharest, Munich, Stuttgart)
*Carpatair (Paris, Venice-Treviso)
*Club Air (Bari, Verona, Pescara)
*JAT Airways (Belgrade)
*Sky Europe (Vienna)
*TAROM (Chicago, Constanta, Frankfurt, New York)

City access

Personal access

Access to the airport is possible from the European road DN6(E70).The airport is located in the N-E part of Timisoara, at a 12 km distance from the city centre, near Ghiroda village.

Bus

The RATT bus 26 connects the terminal to Timişoara city centre.Its route is: Punctele Cardinale - P-ta Badea Cartan - Modern - Blocuri MApN - Aeroport

Taxi

There are usually a wide range of taxis waiting in the airport car park, just off the terminal building.

Rent a car

Car rental services are available in the terminal building from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt, Thrifty, City Car.

Passenger facilities

* Snack bars
* Exchange offices
* Rent a car
* ATM: BCR, BRD
* Travel agency: Via Club
* Handicraft articles and publications: diverse newspapers

Latest news

* A new terminal is proposed to be built at Traian Vuia International Airpot for the low-cost companies. The terminal is necessary to handle the big number of aircrafts once Wizz Air opens his new base.

* Starting September 15 Carpatair will operate daily flights to Vienna

* Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline based in Central and Eastern Europe announced at a press conference on August 8 that it would open its 10th operating base in Timisoara, Romania in March 2009. The airline plans to deploy three new A320 aircraft and employ over 100 staff in Timisoara in the next three years, representing an investment of well over €100 million. Already in December the airline will launch flights to London, Rome and Dortmund 3 times a week each, going up to 4 from 11 March 2009. Also, there will be 5 new routes introduced concurrently with the new base opening in March 2009 (Barcelona, Milan Bergamo, Paris Beauvis, Valencia, Venice Treviso). http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/26706 Wizz Air opens its 10th operating base in Timisoara]

Military uses

The Traian Vuia International Airport was home of the Romanian Air Force 93rd Air Base. The 93rd Air base was disbanded in August 2004 with the MiG-21 Lancers and IAR-330 moving to Câmpia Turzii for reassignment to 71st Air Base. The air base also operated the MiG-23 Flogger, which was retired in early 2002. Over 30 MiG-23s are still in storage at Timişoara Airport. The military section of the airport is currently an annex of the 71st Air Base and operates the 714th Transport Helicopter Squadron, with the IAR 330 in service.

See also

* Aviation in Romania
* Transport in Romania

References

External links

* [http://www.aerotim.ro Official airport website]