Rijeka Airport

Rijeka Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Rijeka, Italian: Aeroporto di Fiume; IATA: RJK, ICAO: LDRI) is the international airport serving Rijeka, Croatia. It is located near the town of Omišalj on the island of Krk, 17 km from the Rijeka railway station.^[1] Most of the traffic to and from the airport occurs during the summer months, when it is used by several European low-cost airlines flying tourists to the northern parts of the Croatian coast.

Rijeka Airport Zračna luka Rijeka/Krk I.
IATA: RJK ICAO: LDRI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Rijeka Airport Ltd.
Serves	Rijeka
Location	Omišalj, Croatia
Elevation AMSL	278 ft / 85 m
Coordinates	45°13′01″N 014°34′13″E
Website	rijeka-airport.hr
Map
RJK Location of the airport in Croatia Show map of Croatia RJK RJK (Krk) Show map of Krk
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 14/32 2,500 8,202 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 164,086 190.99%
Croatian Aeronautical Information Publication[1]

History

Rijeka airport opened in May 1970. The first plane to depart carried Josip Broz Tito and his wife.^[2]

Before the Second World War, Rijeka was divided between Yugoslavia and Italy. The Yugoslav part of the city was served by the airfield in Sušak. Domestic airline Aeroput opened a route linking Sušak to Zagreb in 1930, and a year later, a route linking Zagreb to Belgrade via Sušak, Split and Sarajevo was opened. By 1936, Aeroput linked the city to Belgrade, Borovo, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Split and Zagreb.^[3] The Italian part of the city was connected to many Italian cities with regular flights provided by Italian company Ala Littoria.^[4]

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 and near Urinj, which would have required moving some hills.^[2]

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 Omišalj which runs as needed, considering the flight arrival times. The shuttle would not operate unless bookings are made 24 hours prior to departure.

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Air Serbia	Seasonal: Belgrade[5]
Condor	Seasonal: Frankfurt
Croatia Airlines	Munich
easyJet	Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse,[6] Berlin
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt[7]
Ryanair	Seasonal: Charleroi, London–Stansted,[8] Stockholm–Arlanda, Vienna[9]
Trade Air	Dubrovnik, Osijek, Split, Zadar
Transavia	Seasonal: Eindhoven[10]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at RJK airport. See Wikidata query.

Traffic figures at Rijeka Airport^[11][12]

Year	Passengers	Change	Aircraft movements	Change	Cargo	Change
2011	84,713	28.32%	2,680	32.84%
2012	77,082	7.77%	2,290	15.49%
2013	142,975	93.47%	2,653	17.13%
2014	106,235	26.82%	2,378	10.37%
2015	139,718	37.06%	4,014	68.80%
2016	145,297	3.99%	4,146	3.29%
2017	142,111	2.2%	4,937	19.1%	2,130,742
2018	183,606	29.2%	5,460	10.6%	4,655,866	118.5%
2019	200,841	9.4%	4,942	9.4%	1,025.879	78.0%
2020	27,680	86.22%	3,360	32.01%	259,226	74,73%
2021	56,388	103.71%	4,286	27.55%	56	99,98%
2022	164,086	190.99%	4,392	2.47%	41,077	73251.78%
2023	154,367	5.92%

Incidents and accidents

• On 23 May 1971, Aviogenex Flight 130 crashed on approach to Rijeka Airport because of rough landing in bad weather conditions,^[13][14] killing 78 people and leaving five survivors. Among the victims was the famous Croatian poet Josip Pupačić with his wife and daughter.

References

1. AIP from the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
2. "Nesuđeni aerodrom na Urinju – Moja Rijeka". www.mojarijeka.hr. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016.
3. Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927–1948) at europeanairlines.no
4. Ala Littoria at timetableimages.com
5. "Air Serbia unveils summer expansion". 19 January 2022.
6. "EasyJet to launch new Rijeka service". 7 November 2023.
7. "Lufthansa is consistently pursuing its tourism strategy: 15 new summer destinations from Frankfurt in 2021". Lufthansa Newsroom. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
8. "Vraća se linija London - Rijeka!". Croatian Aviation. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
9. "Ryanair launches Rijeka-Vienna flights". 5 December 2023.
10. "Transavia adds seasonal Eindhoven – Rijeka in 3Q18". Routesonline. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
11. Croatian Bureau of Statistics
12. "Rijeka Airport" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
13. ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 134A YU-AHZ Rijeka Airport (RJK) – 2 photographs
14. Авиакатастрофы самолётов Ту-134 (in Russian)

External links

Media related to Rijeka Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website