Graz Airport

Graz Airport (IATA: GRZ, ICAO: LOWG), known as Flughafen Graz in German, is a primary international airport serving southern Austria. It is located near Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, in the municipalities of Feldkirchen and Kalsdorf, 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) south^[1] of Graz city centre.

Graz Airport Flughafen Graz
IATA: GRZ ICAO: LOWG
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Holding Graz - Kommunale Dienstleistungen GmbH (93.9 %)
Operator	Flughafen Graz Betriebs GmbH
Serves	Graz
Location	Abtissendorf, Feldkirchen and Thalerhof, Kalsdorf, Styria, Austria
Elevation AMSL	340 m / 1,115 ft
Coordinates	46°59′35″N 015°26′21″E
Website	graz-airport.at/en/
Map
GRZ Location of airport in Austria
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 16L/34R 640 2,100 Grass 16C 2,740 8,989 Asphalt 34C 3,000 9,842 Asphalt 16R/34L 760 2,493 Grass
Statistics (2024)
Passengers 819,273 Aircraft movements 10,251 Cargo (metric tons) 18,674
Sources: Austrian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[1] Passengers, movements, cargo 1960 – 2023.[2]

Location

Graz Airport spans the village of Abtissendorf in Feldkirchen municipality and the cadastral community of Thalerhof in Kalsdorf municipality. The airport terminal is located in Abtissendorf.

History

Early years

Construction of the airport began in 1913 with the construction of a grass runway and the first hangars; the airport saw its first flight in 1914. It was the site of Thalerhof internment camp, run by the governments of Franz Joseph I of Austria and Charles I of Austria. The first domestic passenger flight in Austria in 1925 serviced the route Vienna–Graz–Klagenfurt. In 1930 Yugoslav flag carrier Aeroput started regular flights linking Yugoslav capital Belgrade with Vienna with stops in Zagreb and Graz.^[3][4]

In 1937, construction of a terminal building began due to increase in the number of passengers.^{[citation needed]}

After the end of the Second World War, Austria was forbidden to possess either a military or civilian aviation fleet. After the reopening of Austrian airspace in 1951, a new concrete runway of 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) was built in Graz. The runway was extended to 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) in 1962. The route network grew quickly and the first international scheduled flight started in 1966 with flights to Frankfurt.^{[citation needed]}

In 1969, the runway was extended again, this time to 2,500 metres (8,202 ft), and construction of a new terminal building became necessary. Highlights were visits by Concorde in 1981 and by a Boeing 747 on the occasion of the airport's 70th anniversary in 1984. Ten years later, another new building was constructed with a maximum annual capacity of 750,000 passengers. The latest extension of the runway was to 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) in 1998.^{[citation needed]}

Development in the 2000s

In early 21st century, the number of passengers exceeded the 750,000 mark and in 2004 was just below 900,000. This led to the final extension of the current terminal building in 2003 and the construction of a second terminal in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

In summer 2015, the airport received two new routes to European hubs: Swiss International Air Lines to Zurich^[5] and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul Atatürk Airport.^[6] Though Turkish Airlines discontinued their services to Istanbul in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swiss International Air Lines announced it would increase the frequency of flights between Zürich and Graz in summer 2023.^[7]

In December 2022, Eurowings announced that it will establish an additional base at Graz Airport, starting in 2023. This major commitment to Graz features nine new routes, with two of them linking Graz to Berlin and Hamburg and the other ones being leisure routes. Furthermore, the overall frequencies of already existing services to Düsseldorf and Palma de Mallorca will be enhanced.^[8] Yet with all these new routes, the route from Graz to Stuttgart, which was established in 2021, was discontinued in April of 2023.^[9]

In 2024, Graz had recovered approximately 79 percent of its passenger numbers compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Facilities

Terminal and apron

The passenger terminal building features shops, travel agencies, a restaurant and cafés, conference facilities, a bank, car rental and service counters. The apron provides stands for aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747 or An-124. There are no jet bridges, mobile stairways are used for boarding. The airport has a VIP lounge for business class customers and customers with priority status.^{[citation needed]}

Freight

The airport is equipped with cargo handling facilities including storage and customs. While there are no scheduled cargo flights to the airport, charter flights are regularly conducted, especially for time-critical cargo like automotive parts.^[10]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer regular scheduled, seasonal, and charter flights at Graz Airport:^[11]

Airlines	Destinations
Air Dolomiti	Frankfurt,[12] Munich[13]
Austrian Airlines	Vienna[14]
Avanti Air	Seasonal charter: Calvi,[15] Kefalonia,[16] Paros,[17] Skiathos[17]
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal: Heraklion,[18] Hurghada
Croatia Airlines	Seasonal charter: Brač[15]
European Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Heraklion[16]
Eurowings	Berlin,[19] Düsseldorf,[20] Hamburg[19] Seasonal: Chania,[19] Corfu,[19] Gran Canaria,[21] Heraklion (begins 26 May 2025),[22] Hurghada,[23][24] Karpathos[25] Kos,[19] Larnaca,[19] Palma de Mallorca,[15] Rhodes,[23][24] Tenerife–South[21]
Lufthansa	Munich[26]
Pegasus Airlines	Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen (begins 30 May 2025)[27] Seasonal: Antalya[28]
SunExpress	Antalya[29]
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich[30]

Incidents and accidents

Check-in area

Control tower

• On 23 December 2024, Swiss International Air Lines Flight 1885, an Airbus A220-300 registered as HB-JCD, flying from Bucharest, Romania, to Zurich, Switzerland, diverted to Graz Airport due to smoke development in the cabin.^[31] The aircraft was evacuated using the emergency slides,^[32] and 17 passengers and 5 crew members were hospitalized. SWISS announced on 30 December 2024 that one of the flight attendants had died in the hospital.^[33]

Ground transport

Road

Graz Airport is accessible via motorways A9 (exit Kalsdorf) and A2 (exit Flughafen Graz/Feldkirchen). A bus stop can be found next to the arrival area. Regional bus line 630 operates service to Graz, the transfer to central Graz takes approximately 25-50 minutes.^[34]

Rail

The airport is within walking distance (approximately 420 metres, seven minutes on foot) of the Graz-Feldkirchen Airport Railway Station (Flughafen Graz-Feldkirchen Bahnhof). Line S5 (Graz to Spielfeld-Straß) connects the airport to Graz. The journey from the Graz-Feldkirchen Airport Railway Station to the Graz Central Station takes eleven minutes.^[34]

See also

• Transport in Austria
• List of airports in Austria