About

Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport (Slovak: Letisko Milana Rastislava Štefánika) (IATA: BTS, ICAO: LZIB), also called - especially in English - Bratislava Airport (Slovak: Letisko Bratislava) or Bratislava-Ivanka, in Bratislava is the international airport of the Slovak republic. With its favourable geographic position within Europe it has an ambition to become the gateway into the whole Central European region. It is located 9 km (5.59 mi) to the north-east from the city center, covers an area of 4.77 km² (1.84 mi²) and is known for its extraordinarily good climatic conditions. Bratislava Airport contains elements of modern transport infrastructure, which offer not only technologically advance capacities for airline companies but also pleasant, customer orientated surrounding for the passengers.

It is named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik (since 1993), whose aircraft was shot down above Bratislava in 1919. The airport is run by the Letisko Milana Rastislava Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS), a public limited company. Till May 2004, the airport was run by the state-run entity Slovenská správa letísk (Slovak Airport Administration). In 2008, the airport served 2,218,545 passengers, representing a 9.6% increase compared to 2007 and more than a 700% increase compared to 2001.

History

1923
In 1923 the first regular airline of the Czechoslovak Airlines from Prague to Bratislava was started. A biplane AERO A-14 called "Brandenburg" with one passenger on board, flown by Karl Brabenec, had landed at the airport at Vajnory. The Vajnory airport offered flights to the Adriatic Sea, to Vienna, Cluj and Bucharest.

1945
After the end of the World War II the air transport was resumed again at the airport at Vajnory. However, already at that time it was obvious that it would less and less satisfy more and more strict criteria for air transport.

1947-1951
In 1947 commenced the preparatory construction works for the planned new airport of the capital of the SR. Under the rule of law from October 25, 1948 the stage I of its construction fully took off. The runways in direction 04 - 22 (1900 m long) and in direction 13 - 31 (1500 m long) have been constructed. In 1951 the aeronautical operation was started at the new Bratislava airport at Ivanka pri Dunaji.

1951-1970
During the following twenty years, during stage II of airport construction at Ivanka pri Dunaji, the present-day terminal for passengers with its fore-station and a new local road network, central boiler plant and auxiliary power equipment and installations of the main transformer station, were constructed. The airport's was extended as well. The premises for the needs of the Squadron of the Ministry of Interior have been set up within the former terminal of the airport.

1970-1990
In the first half of the 1980's the state enterprise Slov Air started its operation in the new complex including the large repair and overhaul hangar C. This enterprise was providing the air chemical service in the agriculture with countrywide operation within the former Czechoslovakia. In the 1980's, within the extent of complex reconstruction of airport runway system, the runway 04 - 22 was extended to the length of 2900 metres and the runway 13 – 31 to 3190 metres.

1990-1997
The objective of stage III of airport construction was to separate vertically the flows of passengers at the arrival and the departure. In 1994 the project of the completion of terminal for passengers, part B, was executed. On 21.7.1993 the Bratislava Airport was named after the noted Slovak politician, scientist, diplomat and General M. R. Štefánik, and since then it carries its name. In 1995 a new modern fire station was constructed at the intersection of runways, which enabled the re-classification of the Bratislava Airport from the category 6 to category 7, enabling the landing of large-capacity aircrafts. In 1997 the reconstruction of the lighting and landing aids of runway 13 – 31 was completed. New storage facilities for aircraft fuel and the railway siding from the railway station Podunajské Biskupice became part of the M. R. Štefánika Airport.

1998-2004
In 1998 a new air traffic control tower was put in service. At the same time the modernization of handling procedure and the baggage transport system had been completed. By the end of 1999 the operation on the new part of apron was started. During this time the airport fencing, the lighting towers, the administration building with offices, workshops and garages, the terminal building, the storehouses for material supply and the central boiler plant were reconstructed. In 2000 the process of improving the services for the passengers continued. An elevator for disabled passengers and an open children's corner were put in service. A statue of the General M. R. Štefánik, the author of which was the academic sculptor Prof. Bohumil Kafka, has been positioned within the premises of the duty-free zone at the occasion of 120th anniversary of his birth. The transformation of an allowance organization Slovenská správa letísk (Slovak Airports Authority) resulted in establishment, on May 5, 2004, of the joint-stock company Letisko M. R. Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS). In 2004 continues the reconstruction of the terminal with the objective to extend the service area assigned for handling of passengers. The services were extended by new check-in desks on the ground floor, new gates on the first floor as well as the supplementary services for passengers such as shops, cafes. The phyto-sanitary centre was put in service on April 29, 2004. The centre is an important checkpoint for the goods of vegetal or animal origin within the European Union.

2005
With the aim to increase the comfort of provision of services to passengers and to extend the airport capacities, the works on increasing the number of check-in desks to 19 (18 + 1 for large-size baggage), on replacement of the technology intended for the security check of checked-in baggage, on new sales desks for airlines, on the construction of new parking area with the capacity of 100 parking boxes, premises for retail trade as well as the extension of the technical equipment and the technological stock, continue also in 2005. In this year began also the intensive preparations for the accession of the Slovak Republic in the Schengen area, part of which was the report of the EU on the requirements for the protection of the airspace border at the M.R. Štefánika Airport as well. The report implied the requirement for the airport to construct several structures and to carry out a number of reconstruction works in several stages.

2006
The requirement of the EU Commission to separate the execution of the security check of crews from commercial passengers has been implemented as first. The airport has situated this proceeding in the new building, the "General Aviation terminal" – G.A.T., where the department of handling services is situated as well. It was put in service in January 2006. By changing the space arrangement of the handling process the Bratislava Airport has met further requirements on better identification of passengers and the elimination of the mutual contact of passengers, who arrive and depart from the countries of the Schengen area and out of it. An important investment was the addition of the arrival hall – terminal C; in this way the airport has met another requirement to separate the flow of arriving passengers, since starting the April 30, 2008 it will serve exclusively to passengers who need not to go through the passport control by immigration authorities. The airport representatives have ceremonially cut the tape at this terminal in June 2006. In this year the Bratislava Airport had transported the highest number of passengers during one year in its whole history – there were nearly 1 398 000 passengers that have crossed the airport's gates and the requirements to increase substantially the terminals capacity as well as to improve the level of the services quality resounded increasingly definite.

2007
In this year culminate the intensive preparations of the Bratislava Airport and its airspace border to the accession of the SR in the Schengen area. The requirements of the Immigration Authority to establish the asylum office, the requirements to move the command and monitoring station of the Police forces bodies from the terminal for passengers was resolved by the airport by carrying out the reconstruction of and by addition of two storeys on the building of the "Old Cargo" – today the Operation and administration building. It was put in service in January 2007. Over the year there were further requirements that have been implemented and reconstruction works that have been carried out, namely: the supporting facilities for the primary control by the Police in the arrival terminal B, establishment of the security check for transiting passengers, moving the passport control desks to a new position between the terminals and many others. In this way the departure terminal was practically divided into two parts – part A, from the date of the official accession of airports into the Schengen area (30.4.2008) it will be reserved for the passengers travelling to the countries of the Schengen area without having to pass the passport control, and part B for the passengers travelling to countries outside the Schengen area.

The most important change, which has also changed the overall airport appearance from the inside, are the so called departure bridges. The construction of these bridges was related not only to the requirement of the Schengen Accession Commission to separate the flow of passengers travelling to the countries of the Schengen area and to countries outside the Schengen area – the airport has operatively been resolving also other security requirements on the departure terminal such as the collision-free movement of passengers over the service road, barrier-free movement of disabled passengers, etc. At the same time, by implementing these measures, also the capacity problem has partially been resolved: the passengers waiting in the transit hall will move to waiting areas of bridges, by means of which the hall will be freed for addition of commercial services in the transit area, the lack of which is a long-time problem of the airport. Presently there are two bridges, with four so called "gates" with the capacity of more than 400 departing passengers per hour. In addition, new modern premises for the needs of the airport's ground control room and the office of operative management of operations have been created over the bridges. The bridges were put in service in the presence of the minister of transport, posts and telecommunications of the SR on 15.11.2007

By implementation of all above mentioned projects the Bratislava Airport has secured not only the conformity of the requirements with the Schengen criteria, but has achieved an increase in the terminal handling capacity per hour and extension of commercial premises as well. That is because of the reason that all adjustments and reconstructions have been designed so as to enable continued and staged increasing of airport's capacity from present two million passengers per year according to the actual growth of air transport volume till 2010-2011, when there should be more new and modern premises for handling of passengers and their baggage constructed at the Bratislava Airport.

On December 21, 2007, a two-millionth passenger, transported in one year, has crossed the gates of the M.R.Štefánika Airport. A regular scheduled flight of the company SkyEurope from Prague has brought an unaware father from the town of Nitra accompanied with his daughter – this amiable couple will be entered in the airport's history as passengers with the two-millionth number of air ticket of BTS within a year, by means of which the growing importance of air transport in the capital of the SR and its enormous potential for the future has just been confirmed.

Services

• The Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre
• Pay phones
• Slovak Post services
• Information before departure
• Flight info
• Banking and money exchange services
• Packing of baggage
• Baggage room
• Lost and Found
• Room for mothers with children
• Assistance services
• Health services
• Parking
• Taxi
• Car rental
• Cafe
• Bars
• Restaurants
• Shops
• Transportation
• Media room

(Click on the photo to enlarge)

(Click on the photo to enlarge)

Address:

Airport Letisko M.R.Štefánika, Bratislava

Tel: +421 2 3303 3353

E-mail: information [A] airportbratislava sk

URL: http://www.letiskobratislava.sk

Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport Letisko Milana Rastislava Štefánika Bratislava Airport Letisko Bratislava
IATA: BTS – ICAO: LZIB
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS)
Location		Bratislava
Elevation AMSL		436 ft / 133 m
Coordinates		48°10′12″N 17°12′46″E / 48.17°N 17.21278°E / 48.17; 17.21278 (Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport)Coordinates: 48°10′12″N 17°12′46″E / 48.17°N 17.21278°E / 48.17; 17.21278 (Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport)
Website		http://www.letiskobratislava.sk
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
04/22	2,900	9,515	Concrete
13/31	3,190	10,466	Concrete
Statistics (2009)
Passengers			1,710,018
Cargo			11,903 tonnes
Aircraft movements			29,481
Slovakian AIP at EUROCONTROL

Departure terminal

Check-in area at Bratislava Airport

Control tower

Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport (Slovak: Letisko Milana Rastislava Štefánika) (IATA: BTS, ICAO: LZIB), also called - especially in English - Bratislava Airport (Slovak: Letisko Bratislava) or Bratislava-Ivanka, located 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of Bratislava Castle in Bratislava is the main international airport of Slovakia. Scheduled and non-scheduled domestic and international air connections are provided to destinations in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. The scheduled flights are operated by Danube Wings, Czech Airlines, Ryanair, LOT Polish Airlines and Sun d'Or International Airlines.

The airport is named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik (since 1993), whose aircraft crashed near Bratislava in 1919. The airport is run by the Letisko Milana Rastislava Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS) a public limited company. Till May 2004, the airport was run by the state-run entity Slovenská správa letísk (Slovak Airport Administration). In 2008, the airport served 2,218,545 passengers, representing a 9.6% increase compared to 2007 and more than a 700% increase compared to 2001. It is a base of Danube Wings, AirExplore, Slovak Government Flying Service, Opera Jet, and VIP Wings; and was the primary base of SkyEurope Airlines until its bankruptcy on 1 September 2009, of Seagle Air until the airline ended all flights on 22 October 2009 due to financial problems, and of Air Slovakia until flights ceased on 2 March 2010. Sovakian Technik Bratislava and East Air Company - both maintenance companies for third parties are also based at the airport.

Location

Bratislava Airport is located 9 km (5.6 mi) to the north-east from the city center, covering an area of 4.77 km (1.84 sq mi). It is known for its extraordinarily good climatic conditions.

It is located within a one-hour drive of Vienna (Austria), Brno (Czech Republic) and Győr (Hungary), covering a catchment area of four countries.

Characteristics

The first regular flight between Prague and Bratislava occurred in 1923, by the new-formed carrier Czechoslovak Airlines. At that time the airport for Bratislava was in Vajnory, about 3 km away from the current airport. This airport is now closed. Preparatory works for the current airport started in 1947 and construction began in 1948, with two runways constructed (04/22, 1900 m and 13/31, 1500 m) and the airport was opened in 1951.

Today, it serves both scheduled and unscheduled, domestic and international flights. The current runways enable the landing of virtually all types of aircraft used in the world today. The airport is category 4E for aircraft, and category 7 or 8 on request in terms of potential rescue.

The airport features two perpendicular runways (04/22 and 13/31), both of which underwent a complete reconstruction in the 1980s. Runway 13/31 is equipped for ICAO category IIIA approach and landing, while 04/22 is category I.

The airport has three terminals: Departure terminal A, built in 1971, arrival terminal B (used for non-Schengen arrivals), built in 1994 and arrival terminal C (used for Schengen arrivals), built in 2006. A new terminal facility (B) and control tower was added in the 1990s. A new building linking the departure terminal with arrival terminal B has been finished in November 2008 and houses different Slovak travel agencies plus a post office. The number of passengers served decreased temporarily in the early 1990s due to competition by the nearby Vienna International Airport (which is only some 55 km (34 mi) distant from Bratislava Airport), but it is quickly increasing since. In 2005, the airport served over 1,300,000 passengers, and in 2008 just above 2.2 million passengers. Nevertheless, due to the economic downturn and the collapse of SkyEurope Airlines and Seagle Air, the number of passengers has declined to a bit more than 1,710,000.

Amenities and facilities: bureaux de change, first aid, left luggage, baggage wrapping, lost baggage, restaurant, bars, cafés, VIP lounges, airport business clubs, duty-free shop, smaller shop, post office, news agents and car rental facilities. There are also facilities for the disabled. The parking lot near the terminal has 970 places and is used for short- and long-term parking. A new terminal is being constructed, with the first phase to be completed by 2010 and second by 2012. Once completed, the capacity will double from aproximatelly 2.5 to over 5 million passengers per annum. Visualisation can be viewed here.

Four aircraft ground handling companies operate at the airport: Airport Bratislava handling, Slovak Air Services, ABS Jets Handling and VIP Handling. The last two companies are offshots of their airlines (ABS Jets and VIP Wings) and hence handle only these flights.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled service

Cargo airlines

Charter operators

The list of charter carriers for 2010:

AirExplore, Bulgarian Air Charter, Central Charter Airlines (Slovakia), Danube Wings, Nouvelair, Onur Air, Sky Airlines, Travel Service (Slovakia) and Tunisair

VIP and other operators

• ABS Jets
• NetJets
• Opera Jet
• VIP Wings

The airport is also the base for the Slovak Government Flying Service. It is also served by Air Transport Europe on air rescue operations and the Slovak police bases some of its helicopters at BTS.

Other carriers operate on ad-hoc passenger and freight charter flights and GAT flights.

Statistics

Ground transportation

Bratislava Airport can be reached from the city centre, which is by road 9 km (5.6 mi) away, or from D1 motorway. Public transportation line No. 61 connects the airport to the city centre and the main railway station during the day. Bus No. 96 operates from Petržalka. At night the airport is served by bus N61. Terravision ltd, and Blaguss also operate from this airport to Vienna, with Slovak Lines in cooperation with Sovakian Postbus (together operated route) also operate a few departures a day to Vienna. Slovak Lines also operates to destinations around Slovakia. There is a taxi stand just near the entrance to the airport with Danube Taxi and Profi Taxi companies.

Accidents and incidents

• On May 19, 1919, M.R. Štefánik crashed on approach to Vajnory Airport, the predecessor to M. R. Štefánik Airport. Many rumors about his death exist.
• On 24 November 1966, an Il-18 on multi-leg TABSO Flight 101 from Sofia to East Berlin via Budapest and Prague crashed into the forested foothills of Little Carpathians west of the airport shortly after take-off from Bratislava Airport, where it had been grounded due to bad weather in Prague. All 74 passengers and eight crew members died.
• On 28 July 1976, an Il-18 on ČSA Flight OK-NAB from Prague crashed into the Zlaté Piesky lake just north-west of the airport while executing a go-around. 69 of 73 passengers and six crew members died in the crash. Two passengers later died in the hospital.
• On 20 October 1977, an Mi-8 helicopter inbound for landing with wife of the then President of Czechoslovakia Gustáv Husák crashed in dense fog and darkness into a maize field about 300 m (980 ft) short of the runway. All four passengers died.
• On 7 February 1999, a Boeing 707 aircraft crashed on takeoff from BTS. No one was injured.
• On 6 June 1999, a BAE Hawk 200 aircraft crashed during SIAD '99 air show killing the pilot and one female spectator on the ground that was swept off the roof by explosion.

Images and information placed above are from:
http://www.letiskobratislava.sk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._R._Štefánik_Airport

We thank them for the data!

Images and text from Wikipedia are available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

General Info
Country	Slovakia Republic
ICAO ID	LZIB
Time	UTC+1(+2DT)
Latitude	48.170167 48° 10' 12.60" N
Longitude	17.212667 017° 12' 45.60" E
Elevation	436 feet 133 meters
Type	Civil
Magnetic Variation	003° E (01/06)
Operating Agency	CIVIL GOVERNMENT, (LANDING FEES AND DIPLOMATIC CLEARANCE MAY BE REQUIRED)
Near City	Bratislava
Operating Hours	24 HOUR OPERATIONS
International Clearance Status	Airport of Entry

Communications
TWR	118.3 118.7
ATIS	128.65
APP	120.9 119.7 118.975
Communications Remarks
APP	CALL RADAR

Runways
ID	Dimensions	Surface	PCN	ILS
04/22	9515 x 197 feet 2900 x 60 meters	CONCRETE.	054RBXT	YES
13/31	10466 x 148 feet 3190 x 45 meters	CONCRETE.	050RBXT	YES

Navaids
Type	ID	Name	Channel	Freq	Distance From Field	Bearing From Navaid
VOR-DME	JAN	JANOVCE	045X	110.8	13.3 NM	264.9
NDB	OKR	STEFANIK NORTH	-	391	4.5 NM	221.1

Supplies/Equipment
Fuel	Jet A1+, Jet A1 with icing inhibitor.

Remarks
CSTMS/AG/IMG	CSTMS/IMG avbl H24.
FUEL	(NC-A1, 100LL)

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2009.
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