Chișinău International Airport is

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

's main

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longe ...

, located southeast of the centre of Chișinău, the capital city. It serves as headquarters for

Air Moldova Air Moldova is the national airline of Moldova headquartered in Chișinău. It mainly operates scheduled and charter services to destinations within Europe from its base at Chișinău International Airport. History The roots of Moldavian civi ...

, the country's national airline. The IATA airport code KIV is derived from Kishinev (the Russian and former English name of the city).

History

Early years

The first scheduled flights to Chișinău started on 24 June 1926, on the route

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

–

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

–Chișinău and

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionall ...

. The flights were operated by

CFRNA CFRNA ("The French-Romanian Company for Air Transport"; french: Compagnie franco-roumaine de navigation aérienne; ro, Compania franco-română de navigație aeriană) was a French– Romanian airline, founded on 1 January 1920. Its name change ...

, later

LARES Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares ...

. A commemorative plaque, describing the first flight to Chișinău, was placed in the airport. The main terminal was built in the 1970s, with a capacity of 1,200,000 passengers per year.

Development since the 1990s

On 31 May 1995, Chișinău Airport was awarded the status of an international airport. In 2002, following works by the Turkish company Akfen Holding, the airport was modernised. An annex terminal building with an area of was added to the renovated old terminal building of . The project covered the construction of curtain walls, composite panels, asphalt road, a treatment plant with a capacity of a day, complete mechanical heating,

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a ma ...

and electrical systems, along with the

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 ...

security, luggage handling, master clock, and flight information systems. The annual capacity of the airport had increased to 5.4 million passengers. Chișinău International Airport is a member of

Airports Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its members ...

. The airport closed temporarily on the 24th of February 2022, as Moldovan airspace was closed in the wake of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. As of 05 May 2022, the airport has reopened.

Future plans

There are plans to enlarge the airport. The project involves a €19 million loan to Chișinău International Airport for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the existing

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, ...

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use grave ...

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

s, and ramps, engineering works, safety equipment and other connected core assets of Chișinău International Airport. The

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solution ...

('EIB') is considering co-financing alongside the

EBRD The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focu ...

for up to an equal amount.

Facilities

There were ten check-in desks and five gates at the airport in 2009. VIP and CIP guests are offered special services at the VIP terminal. A visitors' terrace on the second floor opened in December 2006. Previously passengers had to present their passport, ticket and their registration (of foreigners – which used to be required). Passengers were allowed in the check-in hall. With the introduction of e-tickets and the abolition of the registration for foreigners, the airport reorganised in late 2006. This resulted in a bigger check-in hall and customs control is now after check-in. Towards the end of 2017, plans for a second runway were unveiled. This runway would take the place of the current taxiway just north of the existing runway. The project began in early 2017. Runway 09–27 started operations on 13 September 2018.

Airlines and destinations

On 22 March 2022, the Civil Aviation Authority of Moldova partially reopened the country's airspace after being closed since 24 February 2022 after growing concerns amid the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Regular operations have since resumed at Chișinău Airport. The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Chișinău International Airport.

Statistics

Traffic

Routes

Other facilities

* The

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

has its headquarters on the airport property.

Ground transportation

There are bus and trolleybus lines and rutierele frequently departing from the airport (aerogara). Rutieră line 165 passes through the Botanica district and continues to the city center. The 'AEROGARA' bus departs from Piața D. Cantemir and has intermediate stops in the city center on Stefan Cel Mare street. It also stops at the central railway station 'GARA'

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

. A trolleybus with the route 30 operates with a 20-minute interval from June 2017. A single-ride ticket costs 6 MDL, which is 0.31

EUR The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

or 0.31

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

as of September 2022. This is different from rutierele, which may stop at any time, given the driver is notified a few seconds prior. The nearest railway station is Revaca.

References

External links

*
State Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of Moldova
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisinau International Airport Airports in Moldova

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...