Chișinău Eugen Doga International Airport

Chișinău Eugen Doga International Airport (Template:Langx; Template:Airport codes) is Moldova's main international airport, located Template:Convert southeast of the centre of Chișinău, the capital city.<ref name="AIP"/> It served as headquarters for Air Moldova,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is the only airport in Moldova with regular passenger flights.

History

Early years

The first scheduled flights to Chișinău started on 24 June 1926, on the route Bucharest–Galați–Chișinău and Iași. The flights were operated by CFRNA, later LARES.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed

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 Template:Convert was added to the renovated old terminal building of Template:Convert. The project covered the construction of Template:Convert curtain walls, Template:Convert composite panels, Template:Convert asphalt road, a treatment plant with a capacity of Template:Convert 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.<ref>Chișinău International Airport at azworldairports.com</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 14 March 2023, WizzAir suspended flights to/from Moldova due to concerns over airspace safety.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 17 October 2024, WizzAir announced their return to Moldova starting from 16 December 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Facilities

There were ten check-in desks and five gates at the airport in 2009.<ref>About Chisinau International Airport Template:Webarchive at booking.md</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Chișinău International Airport: Template:Airport-dest-list

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.

In 2022, Chișinău Airport handled around 2.31 million passengers, an increase of over 25% compared to 2021 (1.84 million passengers).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Year	Passengers (total)<ref name="caa"/><ref name="anna">European Airport Traffic Trends at anna.aero</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Change	Aircraft movements (total)<ref name="caa"/><ref name="mov13">In 2013 Chisinau International Airport carried a record number of passengers Template:Webarchive at airport.md</ref>	Change	Cargo (tonnes)<ref name="caa"/>	Change
2000	254,178	N/A	9,521	N/A	2,400
2001	274,662	Template:Increase 8.0%	9,866	Template:Increase 3.6%	1,700
2002	296,431	Template:Increase 7.9%	10,416	Template:Increase 5.5%	1,300
2003	341,695	Template:Increase 15.2%	9,502	Template:Decrease 8.7%	1,300
2004	421,011	Template:Increase 23.2%	10,759	Template:Increase 13.2%	1,400
2005	482,741	Template:Increase 14.6%	11,126	Template:Increase 3.4%	1,700
2006	548,331	Template:Increase 13.5%	10,065	Template:Decrease 9.5%	1,800
2007	688,782	Template:Increase 25.6%	11,623	Template:Increase 15.4%	2,300
2008	847,881	Template:Increase 23.1%	12,935	Template:Increase 11.3%	2,468.8
2009	808,096	Template:Decrease 4.7%	12,355	Template:Decrease 4.5%	2,033.2	Template:Decrease 17.6%
2010	937,030	Template:Increase 15.9%	13,751	Template:Increase 11.3%	2,399.2	Template:Increase 18.0%
2011	1,046,086	Template:Increase 11.6%	15,022	Template:Increase 9.2%	2,666.2	Template:Increase 11.1%
2012	1,220,506	Template:Increase 16.7%	16,113	Template:Increase 7.3%	2,765.4	Template:Increase 3.7%
2013	1,321,236	Template:Increase 8.2%	16,858	Template:Increase 4.6%	2,951.8	Template:Increase 6.7%
2014	1,781,166	Template:Increase 34.8%	19,756	Template:Increase 17.2%	2,923.5	Template:Decrease 0.9%
2015	2,226,441	Template:Increase 25.0%	22,468	Template:Increase 13.7%	2,891.8	Template:Decrease 1.1%
2016	2,206,266	Template:Decrease 0.9%	22,033	Template:Decrease 1.9%	2,774.3	Template:Decrease 4.1%
2017	2,744,465	Template:Increase 24.4%	27,113	Template:Increase 23.1%	3,488.7	Template:Increase 25.7%
2018	2,828,626	Template:Increase 3.1%	27,949	Template:Increase 3.1%	4,186.6	Template:Increase 20.0%
2019	2,995,530	Template:Increase 5.9%	27,092	Template:Decrease 3.1%	3,767.7	Template:Decrease 10.0%
2020	900,731	Template:Decrease 69.9%	9,870	Template:Decrease 63.6%
2021	1,822,505	Template:Increase 102.3%	16,590	Template:Increase 68.1%
2022	2,254,199	Template:Increase 23.7%	19,199	Template:Increase 15.7%
2023<ref>Сîți pasageri au trecut prin Aeroportul Chișinău de la începutul anului NOI.md</ref>	2,838,073	Template:Increase25.9%	24,947	Template:Increase 29.9%	2,652.6
2024<ref>Template:In lang Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău a înregistrat un trafic de 4,1 milioane de pasageri în 2024 at point.md</ref>	4,142,418	Template:Increase46.0%	33,251	Template:Increase 33.3%	3,390.3	Template:Increase 27.8%

Routes

Busiest international routes at Chișinău Airport by weekly flights

Rank	City	Airport(s)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Airlines
1.	Template:Flagicon Istanbul	Istanbul Airport	35	Turkish Airlines FlyOne
2.	Template:Flagicon Bucharest	Henri Coandă International Airport	26	TAROM HiSky
3.	Template:Flagicon Antalya	Antalya Airport	22	Pegasus Airlines FlyOne Turkish Airlines Southwind Airlines
4.	Template:Flagicon Tel Aviv	Ben Gurion Airport	17	FlyOne HiSky
5.	Template:Flagicon London	London Luton Airport	14	FlyOne Wizz Air
6.	Template:Flagicon Yerevan	Zvartnots International Airport	14	FlyOne FlyOne Armenia
7.	Template:Flagicon Warsaw	Warsaw Chopin Airport	13	LOT Polish Airlines
8.	Template:Flagicon Vienna	Vienna Airport	13	Austrian Airlines
9.	Template:Flagicon Dublin	Dublin Airport	11	FlyOne HiSky
10.	Template:Flagicon Heraklion	Heraklion International Airport	9	FlyOne

Other facilities

• The Civil Aviation Authority has its headquarters on the airport property.<ref>"Contacts Template:Webarchive." Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved on 4 November 2011. "Postal address: Republica Moldova, Chisinau, Aeroport, MD-2026"</ref>

Ground transportation

Trolleybus number 30 in front of the terminal

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• 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.<ref>Popeski, Ron (12 April 2008). "Cargo plane crashes after takeoff from Moldova", Reuters Template:Dead link</ref>
• On 30 June 2023, 43-year-old Tajikistani national, Rustam Ashurov, who was wanted for criminal charges in his home country<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He died in a hospital three days later.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Interesting facts

In 2019, Moldovan sculptor Veaceslav Jiglitski installed the sculpture group "Crew" in the passenger check-in hall.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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

See also

• Civil Aviation Administration of Moldova
• List of airports in Moldova
• List of the busiest airports in the former USSR

External links

• Template:Official website
• State Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of Moldova