For the first time in its history, Iași International Airport celebrated the 1 millionth passenger, in 2023, registered in just six months. The first million passengers in a calendar year, at Iasi Airport, was recorded in November 2017, this significant threshold being reached, in the following years, a month earlier, except during the pandemic period. Today, the record was set two months earlier than last year. Starting with 2021, Iași Airport has recorded record after record, ranking 2nd in the top regional airports in Romania.
1 million passengers in Iasi, in the first half of the year
The lucky passenger traveled, this year, on the Heraklion - Iași charter flight, with a company aircraft HiSky. Her name is Paula Binga-Leahu and she is from Bacău. She received the surprise announcement during the flight, shortly before landing, and upon arrival at the airport, she was congratulated and awarded in a festive setting. The ceremony was attended by the Director of Airport Operations, Vasile Stoicea, the Vice Presidents of the County Council, Marius Dangă and Sorin Afloarei, as well as the Public Administrator of the County, Andrei Cazacu.
The Hisky aircraft, which carried passenger no. 1 Million, was greeted with the water cannons of the fire engines at the airport, and the event ended with a photo session.
Iași Airport will end the year with 2.3-2.5 million passengers
Traffic at Iași Airport is on an upward trend, and this can be seen from the figures that are reported every month. In May, for example, approximately 230 thousand passengers traveled in a single month, the increase being 106% compared to the same month in 2019 and 44% compared to last year.
For the month of August, a traffic of 280 thousand passengers is estimated, with 100 thousand more compared to the same period last year. The authorities hope to end this year with 2,3 - 2,5 million passengers, figures predicted by specialists only for the year 2038.
"In this way, I congratulate the 1 millionth passenger who traveled to Iași Airport and thank all the passengers for understanding our effort during this period full of challenges. Last but not least, I thank HiSky for the very good collaboration so far, I wish our partnership to develop”, said Romeo Vatră, General Director of RA Aeroportul Iași.
HiSky company, from 2021 in Iasi
Hisky airline made its debut in the Moldova region in April 2021, allocating its first aircraft to the base in Iasi. Currently, Hisky operates regular flights from Iasi to Dublin, with four weekly frequencies on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, as well as charter flights to destinations in Greece (Heraklion and Zakynthos), Turkey (Antalya), Egypt (Hurghada) and Tunisia (Monastir).
HiSky operates a fleet of eight aircraft from the Airbus A320 family, including two new Airbus A321neo LR aircraft, manufactured in 2023, the first of this type registered in Romania.
Today, five airlines operate at Iași International Airport. They serve 24 permanent routes (one of which is domestic), connecting Iași with important cities in Europe and beyond. Also available in the summer 2023 schedule are charter/seasonal flights to eight tourist destinations. The route portfolio of Iași Airport was enriched, this year, with two new destinations - Berlin and Istanbul, and since March the frequency of flights has increased on the following routes: Paris-Beauvais, Brussels-Charleroi, Milan-Bergamo and Dublin.