Airports report increased passenger numbers

Passenger numbers were on the rise at Slovakia's three biggest airports last year.

Poprad Tatry AirportPoprad Tatry Airport (Source: Sme)

Bratislava’s M. R. Štefánik Airport processed 1.56 million passengers in 2015, which amounts to a hike of 15.4 percent for the year, or 208,686 people.

“This is a trend that’s sustainable,” said Ivan Trhlík, general director of the airport as cited by the TASR newswire. “It is estimated that 2016 will see a further rise to 1.8 million passengers. As many as 2.1 million passengers should be handled by the airport next year.”

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When it comes to regular destinations, London, Dublin, Milan, Rome and Brussels topped the list. Regarding charter flights, Antalya (Turkey), Burgas (Bulgaria), Rhodes (Greece), Hurghada (Egypt) and Heraklion (Greece) were the most popular destinations. Meanwhile, 24,622 flights were recorded at BTS last year, which represents a rise of 14.6 percent year-on-year.

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With 1.01 million passengers – an extra 24.5 percent on the year – Ryanair was the busiest carrier at BTS by a long way. Charter carrier Travel Service carried 396,450 passengers, an increase of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year. Czech Airlines posted a fall of 7.7 percent, as it carried close to 31,975 people. Low-cost carrier flydubai, which launched a service between Bratislava and Dubai in December 2014, carried 29,606 passengers last year. Russian low-cost airline Pobeda Airlines has handled 3,338 travellers between Bratislava and Moscow since launching its service at the airport last month.

The year of 2015 was the third best in the history of Košice Airport, with the numbers of flights and passengers increasing, its spokesman Juraj Tóth told TASR. A total of 410,449 passengers were processed by the airport in 2015, a 15-percent increase year-on-year. The largest proportion concerned regular flights.

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“The biggest interest was in the link to London operated daily by Wizz Air,” said Tóth. “Košice Airport recorded the second best charter season in its history, with 114,758 passengers, even though that was a decrease of 6 percent when compared to 2014.”

According to Tóth, the airport recorded a total of 8,426 flights, departures and arrivals combined, up 13 percent y/y.

Košice Airport board chairman and executive director Michael Tmej noted that 2015 brought several new elements.

"Four new regular links were launched [to Kiev, Milan-Bergamo, Doncaster Sheffield (UK) and Bristol (UK)], Wizz Air opened its first base in Slovakia here in Kosice, and despite the very unstable situation in Tunisia and Egypt, we recorded the second best charter season in history," said Tmej.

The year of 2015 was the best for Aiport Poprad – Tatry in the last 15 years.

“More than 85,000 passengers used services of the airport last year, which is about 54,000 people more than in 2014 and almost 60,000 more than in 2013,” said Ivana Herkeľová, director of the airport as cited by the SITA newswire.

Airlines operated in 2015 regular lines from Poprad to London, seasonal lines Riga-Poprad-Riga and Riga-Warsaw-Poprad-Warsaw-Riga, as well as charter flights to Moscow, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Burgas and Antalya. 

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