Karlovy Vary Airport

Karlovy Vary Airport ; Karlovy Vary Airport
Characteristics
ICAO code	LKKV
IATA code	KLV
Coordinates	50 ° 12 '11 " N , 12 ° 54' 54" E Coordinates: 50 ° 12 '11 " N , 12 ° 54' 54" E
Height above MSL	606 m (1988 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	4.5 km southeast of Karlovy Vary
Street
Local transport	Bus line 8
Basic data
opening	1927
operator	Letiště Karlovy Vary sro
Terminals	1
Passengers	62,434 (2019)
Flight ; movements	7,736 (2019)
Start-and runway
11/29	2150 m × 30 m asphalt

The Karlovy Vary Airport ( IATA : KLV ; ICAO : LKKV ; Czech Letiště Karlovy Vary , English Airport Karlovy Vary ) is the international passenger airport of the Czech town of Karlovy Vary .

Location and transport links

Karlovy Vary Airport is located in the Olšová Vrata district of Karlovy Vary, around 4.5 km southeast of the city center. It can be reached by car via the D 6 motorway ( Olšová Vrata exit ). City bus line 8 also runs from the city center of Karlovy Vary .

history

The plans for the Karlovy Vary airport began in the 1920s. In 1925 the Karlovy Vary city administration established the need for air connections to other cities at home and abroad. At the same time, there was cooperation with the Marienbad city administration, which began planning an airport. Together, the two cities planned the connection Marienbad - Karlsbad - Chemnitz - Leipzig - Berlin.

In 1927 a location near Olšová Vrata was selected. After the land and the settlements were acquired, the Ministry of Public Works took over the preparatory work in 1929. The cost of this was one million crowns . Among other things, grass was sown on the plain. The prepared area had the shape of a trapezoid and was 40 hectares in size. In 1930 a hangar project was presented, the author of which was the academic Stanislav Bechyne. A study of the main building was carried out by the Karlsbad architect Rudolf Weise. However, the project was rejected for unknown reasons. In October 1931, the Prague- based company of the engineer Jan Blazek was commissioned to develop a new project. The following construction was created by the engineer Antonin Brebera, the construction supervision was carried out by the engineer Frantisek Solveter. On May 15, 1932, the first connection from Prague via Marienbad to Karlsbad was opened. The airport developed positively in the following years. It became more and more important in the European airport network. In 1936 there were stopovers in Karlsbad on flights from Prague to Amsterdam, Berlin, Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna. In 1937 and 1938 there were domestic flights to eleven cities in Czechoslovakia. During the German occupation and World War II , the German Air Force set up a school for fighter pilots at the airport . At the end of the war it was badly damaged.

After the war, the airport was quickly repaired so that it could start operations in 1946. The first seasonal line connection ran from Prague to Karlsbad and back; there were Junkers Ju 52 , Siebel aircraft and, later, Douglas DC-3 used.

In 1952, a 2150 meter long concrete runway was built. The entire airport was then renovated, modernized and expanded. On October 15, 1960, operations could be fully resumed. There were then scheduled flights to Brno , Ostrava , Košice and Berlin-Schönefeld . Mainly Ilyushin Il-14 were used. In 1965, the airport employees built a radio beacon on a hill near Struzna. In the same year, year-round air traffic could be started. The increasing number of passengers made it possible to open a travel agency in Karlovy Vary. The upswing peaked in 1978. There were six daily flights and 50,000 passengers were carried. This was followed by a decline caused, among other things, by high airfares. The number of passengers fell by 74%, and most of the scheduled flights were discontinued. From 1981 there were only flights to Prague. From then on, the airport threatened to close. Expensive repairs were also necessary. In 1984 and 1985, as part of the renovation of the runway, an asphalt layer was laid on it.

Since 1989 the airport has had the status of an international airport again. After the political change , interest in the airport increased again and plans for a comprehensive modernization were initiated. At the end of 2005, the first modernization phase began with the application of a more stable surface on the 2150 meter long runway. The second stage in 2006 included a lighting and signaling system. This has improved flight safety in the rugged terrain that surrounds the airport. On May 20, 2009, the three-year modernization phase ended with the grand opening of the new terminal. 300 million crowns, the equivalent of around 11.5 million euros , were spent on the modernization . A large part of the passenger volume is generated by flights to Russia . As a result of the US and EU sanctions against Russia, however, the number of passengers in 2014 fell by almost a fifth compared to 2013.

Furnishing

The airport has a 2150 m long runway and can therefore be approached with medium-sized aircraft from the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 families . The airport was extensively modernized between 2005 and 2009, with a new terminal opened in 2009 .

Airlines and Destinations

In scheduled traffic , the airport is currently exclusively by Pobeda with Vnukovo connected. In the summer months, Travel Service also operates charter flights to Antalya on behalf of Czech tour operators .

The airline Germania flew twice a week from Düsseldorf to Karlsbad in spring 2017. However, the connection was closed due to insufficient demand.

Traffic figures

Source: Karlovy Vary Airport

Karlovy Vary Airport - traffic figures 1991–2019
year	Passengers	Flight movements
2019	62,434	7,736
2018	45.003	5,480
2017	21,404	5,702
2016	25,235	5,008
2015	51,780	5,816
2014	85,596	5,824
2013	104,469	5,342
2012	103,682	5,826
2011	99.014	6,891
2010	70.903	6,936
2009	68,369	7,632
2008	81,720	5,575
2007	64,641	6,801
2006	34,975	5.111
2005	37,313	7,865
2004	38,704	6,617
2003	25,805	5,428
2002	19,168	3,630
2001	21,748	3,398
2000	19,919	4,285
1999	17,885	5,568
1998	12,623	4,829
1997	7,435	5,713
1996	4.233	5,069
1995	1,186	3,222
1994	1,243	3,967
1993	1,573	2,918
1992	1,468	2.130
1991	1,328	2,000