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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Chisinau International Airport

Chișinău International Airport (Romanian: Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău; IATA: RMO, ICAO: LUKK) is Moldova's main international airport, located 13 km (8.1 mi) southeast of the centre of Chișinău, the capital city. It served as headquarters for Air Moldova, the country's national airline.

On 18 January 2024, the IATA airport code KIV, derived from Kishinev (the Russian and former English name of the city), was changed to RMO (Republica Moldova, "Republic of Moldova" in Romanian).

History

Early years

The first scheduled flights to Chișinău started on 24 June 1926, on the route BucharestGalați–Chișinău and Iași. The flights were operated by CFRNA, later LARES. A commemorative plaque, describing the first flight to Chișinău, was placed in the airport.

The main terminal was built in the 1970s, with a capacity of 1,200,000 passengers per year.

Development since the 1990s

Interior of the airport after reconstruction

On 31 May 1995, Chișinău Airport was awarded the status of an international airport.

A major modernization and renovation of the airport was completed in 2002 by the Turkish company Akfen Holding. An annex terminal building with an area of 4,270 m (46,000 sq ft) was added to the renovated old terminal building of 7,600 m (82,000 sq ft). The project covered the construction of 3,000 m (32,000 sq ft) curtain walls, 3,200 m (34,000 sq ft) composite panels, 12,185 m (131,160 sq ft) asphalt road, a treatment plant with a capacity of 3,450 m (122,000 cu ft) a day, complete mechanical heating, ventilation and electrical systems, along with the X-ray security, luggage handling, master clock, and flight information systems. The annual capacity of the airport increased to 5.4 million passengers.

Chișinău International Airport is a member of Airports Council International.

The airport closed temporarily on 24 February 2022, as Moldovan airspace was closed in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 22 March 2022, the Civil Aviation Authority of Moldova partially reopened the country's airspace, which led to the resumption of operations at the airport.

On 14 March 2023, WizzAir suspended flights to/from Moldova due to concerns over airspace safety. After this, Igor Grosu, the president of the Moldovan Parliament, met with representatives of Ryanair to convince the company to operate flights at the airport, in order to replace Wizz Air as its main low-cost airline.

Facilities

There were ten check-in desks and five gates at the airport in 2009. VIP and CIP guests are offered special services at the VIP terminal. A visitors' terrace on the second floor opened in December 2006.

Previously, passengers had to present their passport, ticket and their registration (of foreigners – which used to be required). Passengers were allowed in the check-in hall. With the introduction of e-tickets and the abolition of the registration for foreigners, the airport reorganised in late 2006. This resulted in a bigger check-in hall, and customs control is now after check-in.

There are plans to enlarge the airport. The project involves a 19 million loan to Chișinău International Airport for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the existing runway, taxiways, aprons, and ramps, engineering works, safety equipment and other connected core assets of Chișinău International Airport. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering co-financing alongside the EBRD for up to an equal amount. Towards the end of 2017, plans for a second runway were unveiled. This runway would take the place of the current taxiway just north of the existing runway. The project began in early 2017. Runway 09–27 started operations on 13 September 2018.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Chișinău International Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens
Air Anka Seasonal charter: Antalya
airBaltic Riga, Vilnius (resumes 2 April 2025)
Arkia Tel Aviv
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku
Bees Airlines Bologna , Bucharest–Otopeni, Verona
Eurowings Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart
FlyOne Alicante (begins 7 June 2025), Amsterdam, Berlin, Bologna, Bremen (begins 17 April 2025), Brussels, Copenhagen (begins 17 June 2025), Dubai–International, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Hahn, Istanbul, Lisbon, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Lyon (begins 19 June 2025), Manchester (begins 17 December 2024), Milan–Malpensa, Munich, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Parma, Prague, Rome–Fiumicino, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Verona
Seasonal: Barcelona, Dubai–Al Maktoum, Heraklion, Larnaca, Madrid, Nice, Valencia
Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum, Izmir, Sharm El Sheikh, Tivat
FlyOne Armenia Yerevan
Georgian Wings Seasonal: Tbilisi
HiSky Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Bucharest–Otopeni, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Istanbul, London–Stansted, Rome–Fiumicino, Tel Aviv, Venice
Seasonal charter: Hurghada
Israir Airlines Tel Aviv
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Mavi Gök Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
Pegasus Airlines Antalya, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Sky Vision Airlines Seasonal charter: Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh
Sun d'Or Tel Aviv
Tailwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
TAROM Bucharest–Otopeni
Transavia Seasonal: Paris–Orly (begins 7 July 2025)
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Beauvais (begins 17 December 2024), Berlin (begins 17 December 2024), Bologna (begins 18 December 2024), Budapest, Charleroi (begins 19 December 2024), Dortmund (begins 16 December 2024), London–Luton, Memmingen (begins 16 December 2024), Milan–Malpensa, Nuremberg (begins 19 December 2024), Rome–Fiumicino, Verona (begins 16 December 2024), Venice, Vienna, Warsaw–Chopin

Statistics

Satellite Chisinau 2002
Aerial view of the airport
Central commercial area
The Presidential Band of the Republic of Moldova at the airport during Joe Biden's visit to Moldova.
Annual passenger traffic at KIV airport. See Wikidata query.

In 2022, Chișinău Airport handled around 2.31 million passengers, an increase of over 25% compared to 2021 (1.84 million passengers).

Year Passengers (total) Change Aircraft movements (total) Change Cargo (tonnes) Change
2000 254,178 N/A 9,521 N/A 2,400
2001 274,662 Increase 8.0% 9,866 Increase 3.6% 1,700
2002 296,431 Increase 7.9% 10,416 Increase 5.5% 1,300
2003 341,695 Increase 15.2% 9,502 Decrease 8.7% 1,300
2004 421,011 Increase 23.2% 10,759 Increase 13.2% 1,400
2005 482,741 Increase 14.6% 11,126 Increase 3.4% 1,700
2006 548,331 Increase 13.5% 10,065 Decrease 9.5% 1,800
2007 688,782 Increase 25.6% 11,623 Increase 15.4% 2,300
2008 847,881 Increase 23.1% 12,935 Increase 11.3% 2,468.8
2009 808,096 Decrease 4.7% 12,355 Decrease 4.5% 2,033.2 Decrease 17.6%
2010 937,030 Increase 15.9% 13,751 Increase 11.3% 2,399.2 Increase 18.0%
2011 1,046,086 Increase 11.6% 15,022 Increase 9.2% 2,666.2 Increase 11.1%
2012 1,220,506 Increase 16.7% 16,113 Increase 7.3% 2,765.4 Increase 3.7%
2013 1,321,236 Increase 8.2% 16,858 Increase 4.6% 2,951.8 Increase 6.7%
2014 1,781,166 Increase 34.8% 19,756 Increase 17.2% 2,923.5 Decrease 0.9%
2015 2,226,441 Increase 25.0% 22,468 Increase 13.7% 2,891.8 Decrease 1.1%
2016 2,206,266 Decrease 0.9% 22,033 Decrease 1.9% 2,774.3 Decrease 4.1%
2017 2,744,465 Increase 24.4% 27,113 Increase 23.1% 3,488.7 Increase 25.7%
2018 2,828,626 Increase 3.1% 27,949 Increase 3.1% 4,186.6 Increase 20.0%
2019 2,995,530 Increase 5.9% 27,092 Decrease 3.1% 3,767.7 Decrease 10.0%
2020 900,731 Decrease 69.9% 9,870 Decrease 63.6%
2021 1,822,505 Increase 102.3% 16,590 Increase 68.1%
2022 2,254,199 Increase 23.7% 19,199 Increase 15.7%
2023 2,838,073 Increase25.9% 24,947 Increase 29.9% 2,652.6
  • 2023 data

Routes

Busiest international routes at Chișinău Airport by weekly flights
Rank City Airport(s) Weekly Departures
(16 June 2024)
Airlines
1. Turkey Istanbul Istanbul Airport 35 Turkish Airlines
FlyOne
2. Romania Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport 26 TAROM
HiSky
3. Turkey Antalya Antalya Airport 22 Pegasus Airlines
FlyOne
Turkish Airlines
Southwind Airlines
4. Israel Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport 17 FlyOne
HiSky
5. United Kingdom London London Luton Airport 14 FlyOne
Wizz Air
6. Armenia Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport 14 FlyOne
FlyOne Armenia
7. Poland Warsaw Warsaw Chopin Airport 13 LOT Polish Airlines
8. Austria Vienna Vienna Airport 13 Austrian Airlines
9. Republic of Ireland Dublin Dublin Airport 11 FlyOne
HiSky
10. Greece Heraklion Heraklion International Airport 9 FlyOne

Other facilities

Ground transportation

Trolleybus number 30 in front of the terminal
Veaceslav Jiglitski and Tetyana Jiglitska (Bazarova) near the "Crew" monument

There are bus and trolleybus lines frequently departing from the airport.

Incidents and accidents

  • At 11:49 on 15 May 1970, CCCP-11149, an Antonov An-10A of Aeroflot's Ulyanovsk Advanced Flying Training College, crashed during a go-around when both engines shut down. All 11 onboard were killed.
  • On 11 April 2008, Kata Air Transport Flight 007, a Sudanese cargo An-32 "Cline" flying from Vienna to Khartoum via Antalya crashed on approach to the airport, killing all eight on board. The plane was returning to the airport, where it had just been repaired, due to engine problems.
  • On 30 June 2023, 43-year-old Tajikistani national, Rustam Ashurov, who was wanted for criminal charges in his home country and had been refused entry to Moldova from Turkey, snatched a gun from a border police officer and opened fire, killing a border guard and an airport security official, and injuring another person. The gunman was wounded and arrested. He died in a hospital three days later.

Interesting facts

In 2019, Moldovan sculptor Veaceslav Jiglitski installed the sculpture group "Crew" in the passenger check-in hall.

At the entrance to the airport there is a monument to a decommissioned Tu-134 aircraft

See also

References

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  2. ^ Statistică şi indicatori Archived 2023-04-06 at the Wayback Machine at caa.md
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  4. ^ "Air Moldova unlikely to restart - CAA".
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Media related to Chișinău International Airport at Wikimedia Commons