On 1 April 2015, Cluj International Airport has celebrated 83 for years, an opportunity for retrospect and anticipation of a new period of development and economic impact for Cluj County and the entire region.
On Friday, on 1 April 1932, the Civil Airport from Cluj is set up, and a year later, in 1933, the first regular passenger flight is operated on the domestic destination Bucharest - Cluj, being served by the LARES airline (Romanian State Airlines). ). In the same year, the Czech company CSA operates the first international flight to the destination Prague - Cluj - Bucharest. After 83 years of activity, the airport serves over 23 regular flights, to 11 destination countries, it has modern airport infrastructure, a new take-off runway, 3 passenger terminals and 8 boarding gates.
In the 83 years of existence, Cluj International Airport has become one of the most important airports in Romania. If in the year 1997, it occupies the position of 5 in the ranking of airports in Romania in terms of air traffic, with only 48.886 passengers, today it is the second airport of the country with an annual traffic of over 1 million passengers.
Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport registered significant traffic increases in the year 2014, the total number of passengers reaching a record of 1.180.000, with 14% more than in the year 2013. This upward trend is also continued in the first quarter of year 2015, when there is a total passenger traffic with 34% higher compared to the same period of year 2014.
Currently, the airport's network of routes connects the region directly with Europe and the Middle East. Airport passengers can choose both regular destinations and charter flights to tourist destinations. Starting with the 2015 summer program, the number of frequencies of the operated destinations increases and the tourist flights are resumed. Thus, 15 additional frequencies are introduced this season compared to the winter season. The destinations that benefit from additional frequencies are Barcelona, Bologna, Dortmund, Cologne, London-Luton, Madrid, Milan-Bergamo, Paris-Beauvais, Rome-Ciampino, Valencia and Zaragoza. At the same time, charter flights to holiday destinations in Turkey, Greece, Spain, Egypt and Tunisia continue.
The stages of development and modernization of both the infrastructure of the Cluj International Airport and of the air traffic, crossed during the 83 years of existence, open new horizons of opportunities and achievements including the creation of an intermodal system for passengers and freight, which connect at the airport the railway network and ensure the creation of the necessary infrastructure for the development of air freight in the region.