Rijeka Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Rijeka, it, Aeroporto di Fiume; ) is the

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 longer ...

serving

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, Croatia. It is located near the town of

Omišalj Omišalj ( it, Castel Muschio; german: Moschau) is a coastal municipality in the north-west of the island of Krk in Croatia. The population of Omišalj itself is 1,868 (2011), while the municipality also includes the nearby village of Njivice, brin ...

on the island of

Krk Krk (; it, Veglia; ruo, Krk; dlm, label= Vegliot Dalmatian, Vikla; la, Curicta; grc-gre, Κύρικον, Kyrikon) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kot ...

, 17 km from the Rijeka railway station. Most of the traffic to and from the airport occurs during the summer months, when it is used by several European

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

s flying tourists to the northern parts of the Croatian coast.

History

Rijeka airport opened in May 1970. The first plane to depart carried

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

and his wife. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Rijeka was divided between Yugoslavia and Italy. The Yugoslav part of the city was served by the airfield in Sušak. Domestic airline

Aeroput Aeroput () was an airline and flag carrier of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia from 1927 until 1948. Society for Air traffic List of legal entity types by country#Serbia, AD Aeroput was the first Serbian company for civil air traffic, which was ...

opened a route linking Sušak to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

in 1930, and a year later, a route linking Zagreb to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

via Sušak,

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

and

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

was opened. By 1936, Aeroput linked the city to Belgrade, Borovo,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Sarajevo, Split and Zagreb. The Italian part of the city was connected to many Italian cities with regular flights provided by Italian company

Ala Littoria Ala Littoria S.A. was the Italian national airline that operated during the fascist regime in the 1930s and 1940s. History ''Ala Littoria'' was formed by a merger of Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM), Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA) ...

. 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 Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings r ...

and near Urinj, which would have required moving some hills.

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 14 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

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

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Rijeka Airport:

Statistics

Incidents and accidents

* On 23 May 1971,

Aviogenex Flight 130 Aviogenex Flight 130 was an international charter passenger flight from Gatwick Airport, London to Rijeka Airport, Yugoslavia (modern-day Croatia). On 23 May 1971, the Tupolev Tu-134A servicing the flight suffered structural failure during landi ...

crashed on approach to Rijeka Airport because of rough landing in bad weather conditions,ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 134A YU-AHZ Rijeka Airport (RJK)
– 2 photographsАвиакатастрофы самолётов Ту-134
killing 78 people and leaving five survivors. Among the victims was the famous Croatian poet Josip Pupačić with his wife and daughter.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Airports in Croatia

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 ...

Krk Buildings and structures in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Economy of Rijeka Transport in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Tourism in Rijeka