Graz Airport, known as Flughafen Graz in German, is a primary international airport serving southern Austria. It is located near Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, in the municipalities of Feldkirchen and Kalsdorf, south of Graz city centre.
Location
Graz Airport spans the village Abtissendorf in Feldkirchen municipality and the cadastral community Thalerhof in Kalsdorf municipality. The airport terminal is located in Abtissendorf.
History
Early years
Construction of the airport began in 1913 with the construction of a grass runway and the first hangars; the airport saw its first flight in 1914. It was the site of Thalerhof internment camp, run by the governments of Franz Joseph I of Austria and Charles I of Austria. The first domestic passenger flight in Austria in 1925 serviced the route Vienna–Graz–Klagenfurt. In 1930 Yugoslav flag carrierAeroput started regular flights linking Yugoslav capital Belgrade with Vienna with stops in Zagreb and Graz. In 1937, construction of a terminal building began due to increase in the number of passengers. After the end of the Second World War, Austria was forbidden to possess either a military or civilian aviation fleet. After the reopening of Austrian airspace in 1951, a new concrete runway of was built in Graz. The runway was extended to in 1962. The route network grew quickly and the first international scheduled flight started in 1966 with flights to Frankfurt. In 1969, the runway was extended again, this time to, and construction of a new terminal building became necessary. Highlights were visits by Concorde in 1981 and by a Boeing 747 on the occasion of the airport's 70th anniversary in 1984. Ten years later, another new building was constructed with a maximum annual capacity of 750,000 passengers. The latest extension of the runway was to in 1998.
Development in the 2000s
In early 21st century, the number of passengers exceeded the 750,000 mark and in 2004 was just below 900,000. This led to the final extension of the current terminal building in 2003 and the construction of a second terminal in 2005. In summer 2015, the airport received two new routes to European hubs: Swiss International Air Lines to Zurich and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul Atatürk Airport.
Facilities
The passenger terminal building features shops, travel agencies, a restaurant and cafés, a bank, car rental and service counters. The apron provides stands for aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747 or An-124. There are no jet bridges, mobile stairways are used for boarding. While there are no scheduled cargo flights to the airport, charter flights are regularly conducted, especially for time-critical cargo like automotive parts.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines offer regular scheduled, seasonal, and charter flights at Graz Airport:
Access
Public transport
A bus stop can be found next to the arrival area. Regional bus lines 630 and 631 operate service to Graz, the transfer to central Graz takes 16 to 28 minutes. The airport is within walking distance of the Graz airport railway station. Line S5 connects the airport to Graz. The journey from the Graz airport railway station to the Graz central station takes eleven minutes.
Car
Graz Airport is accessible via motorways A9 and A2.
