According to a press release from Cluj International Airport, in the first quarter of 2023 passenger traffic was approximately 600,000, increasing by 6% compared to the first quarter of 2019, which was the best in the history of the Cluj airport, and increasing by 80% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
Also, during May of this year, it is estimated that the threshold of 1 million passengers transported from the Cluj airport will be reached, one month earlier than the previous year.
Passengers of Cluj International Airport currently have the opportunity to travel to approximately 50 destinations offered by 9 air operators, and during the summer season the threshold of 65 destinations operated from the Cluj airport will be exceeded.
The increase in passenger traffic is supported in the 2023 summer program by the launch/resumption of 11 routes and the start of operations for a new airline, AirConnect, which currently operates flights to Budapest, and from June 22, 2023 will connect Cluj with the Black Sea coast, through the flights to Constanta, operated with 2 weekly frequencies, every Thursday and Sunday.
Also, the Aeroexpress Regional airline is extending its operating period of flights to the capital of Hungary, Budapest, until the end of August 2023.
With the start of the 2023 summer season, the Ryanair airline started new flights to 3 destinations in 3 European countries, namely Brussels Charleroi (Belgium), Milan-Bergamo (Italy) and Paris Beauvais (France), thus expanding its number to 5 destinations available from Cluj International Airport, along with flights to Dublin and London Stansted.
The 2023 summer season brings increased connectivity for several routes departing from Cluj-Napoca, to major European capitals or cities of interest: Bucharest (35 flights/week), London Luton/Stansted (21 flights/week), Milan- Bergamo (17-18 flights/week), Munich (14 flights/week), Frankfurt Main/Hahn (13 flights/week), Paris Beauvais (11 flights/week), Brussels Charleroi (11 flights/week), Istanbul and Barcelona (7 flights/week), Warsaw and Budapest (6 flights/week).
The air operator Wizz Air will add in the 2023 summer season 6 more routes that will be operated in addition to the 34 routes already in the route network of the Cluj airport. An absolute first for the company is the new route to Antalya (Turkey), which will be operated from May 18, 2023, with 2 weekly flights, Thursday and Sunday.
Malta (Malta) resumed from Monday, with 2 and even 3 weekly flights on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Also, the company will resume operating flights to the extremely popular holiday destinations in Greece – Corfu, from June 12, 2023 (Mon and Fri), Crete Chania from June 13, 2023 (Mon and Sat) and Zakynthos from June 15, 2023 (Th and Du) and Spain – Palma de Mallorca from June 14 (Wed and Du).
For journeys with connections through the largest European hubs, Lufthansa airline will maintain flight operations to Munich with 14 weekly frequencies, and during the summer season will double the number of flights available to Frankfurt Main (Germany), from 6 to 12 weekly flights.
Also, the Turkish Airlines company will increase the number of available flights to Istanbul (Turkey) by 3 frequencies, thus having daily flights to this destination from the Cluj airport.
The operator Lot Polish Airlines has increased the number of regular flights available to Warsaw (Poland) by 2 weekly frequencies, thus operating up to 6 weekly flights in the 2023 summer season from Cluj International Airport.
The Tarom company offers travel opportunities to Bucharest through flights operated with 25 weekly frequencies in the 2023 summer season, and the HiSky airline also offers an alternative to flights to the capital of Romania, Bucharest, maintaining the operation with 10-11 weekly frequencies from the Cluj airport .
The Tel Aviv destination also recorded a significant increase, for which in the 2023 summer season, the HiSky company doubles the frequencies from 1 to 2 weekly flights.
Regarding charter flights, the Hurghada (Egypt) destination was operated throughout the winter season and will continue with the 2023 summer season when other charter flights will be launched, to sunny and unique holiday destinations in Egypt (Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh), Greece (Crete-Chania, Crete-Heraklion, Rhodes, Zakynthos), Turkey (Antalya, Bodrum), Spain (Palma de Mallorca) and Tunisia (Monastir).
(source: Mediafax)