Rijeka Airport

Rijeka Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Rijeka, Italian: Aeroporto di Fiume; IATA: RJK, ICAO: LDRI) is the international airport serving Rijeka, Croatia. It is located near the town of Omišalj on the island of Krk, 17 km from the Rijeka railway station.[1] Most of the traffic to and from the airport occurs during the summer months, when it is used by several European low-cost airlines flying tourists to the northern parts of the Croatian coast.

Rijeka Airport

Zračna luka Rijeka/Krk I.
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorRijeka Airport Ltd.
ServesRijeka
LocationOmišalj, Croatia
Elevation AMSL278 ft / 85 m
Coordinates45°13′01″N 014°34′13″E
Websiterijeka-airport.hr
Map
RJK
Location of the airport in Croatia
RJK
RJK (Krk)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 2,500 8,202 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers200,841 9,4%

History

Rijeka airport opened in May 1970. The first plane to depart carried Josip Broz Tito and his wife.[2]

Before the Second World War, Rijeka was divided between Yugoslavia and Italy. The Yugoslav part of the city was served by the airfield in Sušak. Domestic airline Aeroput opened a route linking Sušak to Zagreb in 1930, and a year later, a route linking Zagreb to Belgrade via Sušak, Split and Sarajevo was opened. By 1936, Aeroput linked the city to Belgrade, Borovo, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Split and Zagreb.[3] The Italian part of the city was connected to many Italian cities with regular flights provided by Italian company Ala Littoria.[4]

The Grobnik airport had difficulty with larger planes, as its runways were close to the hills to the east of the city. With larger airliners coming on board, planners decided on a location on Krk after considering locations close to Opatija and near Urinj, which would have required moving some hills.[2]

Facilities

Rijeka airport has a single terminal building which dates back to its original opening in 1970. Over the decades minor upgrades have been made. Terminal has 7 gates, 1 domestic and 6 international. None of the gates have jet bridges and boarding is done by people walking from the terminal directly to the aircraft. Arrivals hall features a single baggage belt. On the upper floor there is a small duty free in the international area, mostly featuring local produced merchandise, as well as a café bar. Another bar with limited selection of snacks is located on before in the entrance hall. Domestic departures have no facilities after security check. Several car rental agencies maintain their offices during the summer season.

Airport has a single 2500 m long and 45 m wide runway. As there are no taxiways, airplane has to turn at the runway end and taxi along the runway back to the terminal. Runway 3 has CAT I ILS landing aids installed.

Ground transportation

Since the airport is located on the island of Krk, there is a dedicated bus line from Rijeka and Omišalj which runs as needed, considering the flight arrival times. In case there are no bookings made 24 hours prior to departure the shuttle will not operate.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga
Arkia Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Croatia Airlines Munich
Enter Air Seasonal charter: Warsaw-Chopin
Eurowings Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin[5]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt (begins 8 May 2021),[6] Munich
Trade Air Dubrovnik, Osijek, Split
Transavia Seasonal: Eindhoven[7]

Statistics
Traffic figures at Rijeka Airport[8][9]
Year Passengers Change Aircraft movements Change Cargo Change
2003 41,498 2,630
2004 51,349 23.74% 2,753 4.68%
2005 118,244 130.28% 3,043 10.53%
2006 166,675 40.96% 3,497 14.92%
2007 160,862 3.49% 3,407 2.57%
2008 109,706 31.80% 2,521 26.00%
2009 110,208 0.46% 2,759 9.44%
2010 61,855 44.22% 2,017 26.93%
2011 84,713 28.32% 2,680 32.84%
2012 77,082 7.77% 2,290 15.49%
2013 142,975 93.47% 2,653 17.13%
2014 106,235 26.82% 2,378 10.37%
2015 139,718 37.06% 4,014 68.80%
2016 145,297 3.99% 4,146 3.29%
2017 142,111 2.2% 4,937 19.1% 2,130,742
2018 183,606 29.2% 5,460 10.6% 4,655,866 118.5%
2019 200,841 9.4% 4,942 9.4% 1,025.879 78.0%
2020 (Jan-Nov) 27,341 86.34% 3,204 33.36% 259,226 74,73%

Incidents and accidents
  • On 23 May 1971, Aviogenex Flight 130 crashed on approach to Rijeka Airport because of rough landing in bad weather conditions,[10][11] killing 78 people and leaving five survivors. Among the victims was the famous Croatian poet Josip Pupačić with his wife and daughter.

References
  1. AIP from the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
  2. http://www.mojarijeka.hr/kolumne/nesudeni-aerodrom-na-urinju
  3. Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927–1948) at europeanairlines.no
  4. Ala Littoria at timetableimages.com
  5. "LOT schedules new route to Rijeka". Avioradar. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  6. "Lufthansa is consistently pursuing its tourism strategy: 15 new summer destinations from Frankfurt in 2021". Lufthansa Newsroom. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  7. "Transavia adds seasonal Eindhoven – Rijeka in 3Q18". Routesonline. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. Croatian Bureau of Statistics
  9. Rijeka Airport
  10. ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 134A YU-AHZ Rijeka Airport (RJK) – 2 photographs
  11. Авиакатастрофы самолётов Ту-134 (in Russian)

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