České Budějovice Airport (ICAO: LKCS, IATA: JCL) is a public domestic and non-public

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 ...

operated by South Bohemian Airport České Budějovice a.s., owned by the South Bohemian Region and the city of

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is t ...

. It is 6 km from the centre of České Budějovice, in the direction of

Český Krumlov Český Krumlov (; german: Krumau, , or ''Böhmisch Krumau'') is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The historic centre with the Český Krumlov Castle complex is protected by law as an urban monument reservation, and sin ...

. Modernization to the public international airport should be completed in late 2020. The company South Bohemian Airport České Budějovice holds the license for non-public international traffic. It is authorized to receive and dispatch medium-sized aircraft up to a wingspan of 36 meters. Due to lack of equipment, the airport cannot accept flights in bad weather; aircraft can land only in daylight and in good visibility (VFR). In addition, flights requiring customs clearance and the presence of customs and immigration services must register 24 hours in advance. At present, the airport is most used for sports and limited commercial flights; regular airport clients are firms with business interests in southern Bohemia.

History

In 1932, the construction of the airport for the needs of the Aeroclub České Budějovice and the

Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ce ...

began; ceremonial commissioning was on 27 June 1937. During the Nazi occupation, the airport was a backup and training base of the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. After the liberation, the Czechoslovak Army took over the airport. Between 1950 and 1952, the airport was completely modernized, after which the Aeroklub České Budějovice was no longer permitted to operate at the airport and moved to Hosín airport. Between 1952 and 31 December 1994, the 1st Air Force Regiment "Zvolenský" was based at the local airport. The presence of the Czechoslovak Air Force was gradually reduced during the 1990s, culminating in the closure of the military base in 2005.

Modernisation

The thorough modernization and reconstruction of the airport is currently under way, in several phases, to bring it to a similar standard to other regional airports in the Czech Republic. Upon completion, České Budějovice Airport will be suitable for mid-size transportation aircraft, including charter and business flights. The investor in this project is the owner of the complex, the

South Bohemian Region The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part ...

. The first phase was completed in June 2015, including the repair of the runway and taxiways, the reinforcement of the runway surface and the addition of new navigatation aids for conventional airplanes. In addition, an in-house communications, engineering networks and a security center were built. Phase II comprises the construction of a new terminal, expanding aircraft stands, improving access roads and car parks for passengers, and providing public lighting. Once the terminal building is completed, there will be a certification process, lasting six to twelve months, allowing international traffic. The airport will be a fully certified airport for charter, tourist, business, freight and domestic transportation, with aircraft such as the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

and

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

permitted to land. Construction of the new terminal started in December 2017, full operation was planned for the end of 2020. České Budějovice finally received its first commercial service on the second of August 2023, being a

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights r ...

to the turkish city of

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

, operated by

Smartwings Smartwings, a.s. (formerly ''Travel Service, a.s.'') is a low-cost leisure Czech airline, with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague. It is the biggest airline in the Czech Republic an ...

for Cedok tour operator. In the days afterwards, flights to greek islands

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

and

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

were inaugurated, too. As operations succeeded, summer season 2024 will see an expanded offer including two new charter destinations, tunesian city

Enfidha Enfidha (or Dar-el-Bey, ar, دار البي ') is a town in north-eastern Tunisia with a population of approximately 10,000. It is visited by tourists on their way to Takrouna. Enfidha is located at around . It lies on the railway between Tunis ...

and

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...

in Bulgaria.

Airlines and destinations

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceske Budejovice Airport Airports in the Czech Republic Buildings and structures in České Budějovice Buildings and structures in the South Bohemian Region 1937 establishments in Czechoslovakia Airports established in 1937 20th-century architecture in the Czech Republic