Graz Airport

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.

Graz Airport

Flughafen Graz
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerHolding Graz - Kommunale Dienstleistungen GmbH (99.9 %)
OperatorFlughafen Graz Betriebs GmbH
ServesGraz
LocationAbtissendorf, Feldkirchen and Thalerhof, Kalsdorf, Styria, Austria
Elevation AMSL340 m / 1,115 ft
Coordinates46°59′35″N 015°26′21″E
Websiteflughafen-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
Aircraft movements (2019)14,727
Passengers (2019)1,036,929
Cargo (including
road feeder service,
metric tons) (2018)		9,318
Sources: Austrian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]

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

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 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 started regular flights linking Yugoslav capital Belgrade with Vienna with stops in Zagreb and Graz.[2][3] In 1937, construction of a terminal building began due to increase in the number of passengers.

After the end of the Second World War, Austria was forbidden to possess either a military or civilian aviation fleet. After the reopening of Austrian airspace in 1951, a new concrete runway of 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) was built in Graz. The 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 flights 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. Highlights were visits by 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 annual capacity of 750,000 passengers. 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[4] and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul Atatürk Airport.[5]

Facilities

The passenger terminal building features shops, travel agencies, a restaurant and cafés, conference facilities, a bank, car rental and service counters. The apron provides stands for aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747 or An-124. There are no jet bridges, mobile stairways are used for boarding.

While there are no scheduled cargo flights to the airport, charter flights are regularly conducted, especially for time-critical cargo like automotive parts.

Airport lounge

The airport offers one VIP lounge for business class customers or customers with priority status. and is operated by the Graz Airport.

Airlines and destinations
Check-in area
Rooftop viewing area
Control tower

The following airlines offer regular scheduled, seasonal, and charter flights at Graz Airport:[6]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Dolomiti Munich
Austrian Airlines Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Vienna
Bulgarian Air Charter Seasonal charter: Burgas,[7] Heraklion,[7] Kos,[7] Rhodes[7]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Heraklion, Hurghada, Rhodes
Seasonal charter: Antalya
Croatia Airlines Seasonal charter: Brač
Eurowings Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
FlyEgypt Seasonal charter: Hurghada,[7] Sharm El Sheikh[7]
KLM Amsterdam
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Onur Air Seasonal charter: Antalya
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Turkish Airlines Istanbul

Access

Public transport

A bus stop can be found next to the arrival area.[8] Regional bus lines 630 and 631 operate service to Graz, the transfer to central Graz takes 16 to 28 minutes. The airport is within walking distance (approximately 420 metres, seven minutes on foot) of the Graz airport railway station. Line S5 (Graz to Spielfeld-Straß) connects the airport to Graz. The journey from the Graz airport railway station to the Graz central station takes eleven minutes.

Car

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

See also

References
  1. EAD Basic
  2. Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput at europeanairlines.no
  3. "World Airlines Directory". Flight International. 10 August 1944. p. 150.
  4. Airline route Archived 11 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Turkish Airlines Launches a New Route to Graz". Turkish Airlines (Press release). Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  6. "Destinationen". Flughafen Graz. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. "TUI expands vigorously in Graz". austrianaviation.net. 5 April 2019.
  8. "Public transport". Flughafen Graz. Retrieved 24 September 2015.

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