Pula Airport

Pula Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Pula; Italian: Aeroporto di Pola; IATA: PUY, ICAO: LDPL) is the international airport serving the city of Pula, in northwestern Croatia, and is located 6 km from the city centre.^[1] It served 777,568 passengers in 2019.^[2] The airport is designated as the alternative airport for parts of Slovenia. It serves as a major access point to the city of Pula-Pola, as well as most of Istria, most notably Brijuni-Brioni national park.

Pula Airport Zračna luka Pula
IATA: PUY ICAO: LDPL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Pula Airport Ltd.
Serves	Pula, Croatia
Elevation AMSL	274 ft / 84 m
Coordinates	44°53′37″N 013°55′20″E
Website	airport-pula.hr
Map
PUY Location of the airport in Croatia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 2,950 9,678 Asphalt
Statistics (2024)
Passengers 509,397 19,95%
Croatian Aeronautical Information Publication[1]

History

Pula Airport at its current location was initially used only for military purposes but it was changed to a civilian airport as of 1 May 1967 and saw 701,370 passengers in 1987. In the same year, works on a new terminal building began and were completed by 1989 with a capacity of 1 million passengers per year. The Croatian War of Independence has caused a sharp decline in passenger numbers. The airport saw a steady increase in passenger volume over the next 3 decades, surpassing the previous record set in 2018. As most passengers flying to or from Pula airport are holiday makers, flight numbers have a significant seasonal character.

Facilities

Pula Airport has a single terminal building with a capacity of 1 million passengers per year. The airport serves both domestic and international flights. Inside the terminal there are a couple of café/snack bars as well as duty-free shop. None of the gates are equipped with jet bridges but rather the passengers walk from the terminal building to the aircraft or are transferred by bus. Because of its location and fairly good weather conditions all year around, as well as lower flight numbers during the winter months, it is frequently used by European carriers for training flights.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Pula Airport:

Aerial view

Airlines	Destinations
Air Serbia	Seasonal: Belgrade[3]
Croatia Airlines	Zadar,[4] Zagreb[4] Seasonal: Zürich[5]
Discover Airlines	Seasonal: Frankfurt (begins 31 March 2025)[6]
easyJet	Seasonal: Amsterdam,[citation needed] Basel/Mulhouse,[citation needed] Berlin,[citation needed] Bristol,[citation needed] Glasgow,[7] London–Gatwick,[citation needed] London–Luton[citation needed]
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zürich[citation needed]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn,[8] Düsseldorf,[9] Hanover,[10][11] Stuttgart[12]
FLYYO	Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv[13]
Jet2.com	Seasonal: Birmingham (begins 2 May 2025),[14] East Midlands (begins 24 May 2026),[15] London–Stansted (begins 3 May 2025),[14] Manchester (begins 2 May 2025)[14]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt,[16] Munich[16]
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen,[17] Oslo,[citation needed] Stockholm–Arlanda[citation needed]
Play	Seasonal: Reykjavík–Keflavík (begins 31 May 2025)[18]
Ryanair	Seasonal: Charleroi,[citation needed] Gothenburg (begins 2 June 2025),[19] Katowice,[20] London–Stansted,[citation needed] Memmingen,[21] Poznań,[citation needed] Vienna,[22] Weeze[23]
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal: Copenhagen,[24] Oslo[25]
Trade Air	Osijek,[4] Split[4]
Transavia	Seasonal: Rotterdam/The Hague[citation needed]
TUI Airways	Seasonal: Birmingham,[citation needed] London–Gatwick,[citation needed] Manchester[citation needed]
TUI fly Nordic	Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[26] Stockholm–Arlanda

Statistics

Traffic at Pula Airport

Year	Passengers	Change	Aircraft movements	Change
2013	351,196	4,4%	7,292	2,2%
2014	382,992	9,1%	7,106	2,6%
2015	359,426	6,2%	6,954	2,1%
2016	436,121	21,3%	7,692	10,6%
2017	595,812	36,5%	9,288	20,7%
2018	718,187	20,53%	10,076	8,4%
2019	777,568	8,26%	10,428	3,49%
2020	83,502	89,26%	4,464	57,19%
2021	270,035	223,38%	8,124	81,98%
2022	395,178	46,34%	n/a	n/a
2023	424,000	7.29%	n/a	n/a

Ground transportation

The airport can be reached by a dedicated bus line from the centre of Pula which goes to/from the airport ("Zračna luka Pula") and the Pula central bus terminal ("Bus Kolodvor"). The schedule is adjusted on a monthly basis to meet the flights arrival/departure.

Incidents and accidents

• On 2 August 2009, a private Piper PA-46-310P Malibu, from Frankfurt to Pula failed to extend its nose gear for landing. After several tries it ran out of fuel and landed on its main landing gear. When it landed, the nose of the airplane touched the runway and stopped, which resulted in substantial damage. There were no injuries reported among the five passengers.^[27][28]
• On 21 September 2011, the left main gear on a private Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage collapsed after it made a 180 degree turn to line-up with the runway. The runway was closed for three hours as a result. The plane received minor damage and there were no injuries reported among the four passengers in the aircraft.^[29]
• On 31 March 2023, a German-registered Flight Design CTSW crashed during takeoff killing both occupants.^[30][31][32]

References

1. "AIP from the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation". Ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
2. "Statistics - Airport Pula". Airport-pula.hr. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
3. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231107-juns24fltnbr
4. "LIST OF PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATIONS" (PDF). Aeroroutes.com. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
5. Liu, Jim. "Croatia Airlines NW23 Network Changes – 20AUG23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
6. Liu, Jim (31 January 2025). "Discover Airlines Adds Pula Service in April 2025". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
7. "easyJet to launch new Pula service". exyuaviation.com. 16 November 2023.
8. Liu, Jim (13 March 2024). "Eurowings NS24 Leased Smartwings 737-800 Operating Routes". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
9. Liu, Jim (14 February 2023). "Eurowings NS23 Network Update – 12FEB23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
10. "PRVI OBJAVLJUJEMO-NAJAVE: Eurowings pokreće Hanover-Pula – zamaaero".
11. Liu, Jim (22 April 2024). "Eurowings NS24 Network Additions – 21APR24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
12. Liu, Jim (14 February 2023). "Eurowings NS23 Network Update – 12FEB23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
13. "FLYYO Launches Charter Operations to 26 Destinations from Tel Aviv! — Flyyo". flyyo.com. FLYYO by Aerro Direkt. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
14. "Jet2holidays puts four new destinations across Greece, Portugal and Croatia on sale".
15. https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/jet2-and-jet2holidays-tease-further-growth-as-expanded-summer-2026-programme-released
16. Liu, Jim (22 January 2024). "Lufthansa / Air Dolomiti NS24 European Network/Frequency Changes – 21JAN24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
17. "Summer 2023: Norwegian launches more than twenty new routes from Denmark and Norway". 17 November 2022.
18. "Play arrives in Pula!".
19. "Dvije nove linije Ryanaira prema Hrvatskoj". Croatianaviation. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
20. "Ryanair najavio 5 novih linija prema Hrvatskoj".
21. "Ryanair launches Pula-Memmingen flights". 5 December 2023.
22. "Ryanair NS23 A320 Network Additions – 05FEB23". Aeroroutes.
23. "Ryanair start vier nieuwe zomerroutes vanaf Weeze Airport met extra toestel". luchtvaartnieuws.nl. 14 December 2022.
24. Liu, Jim (22 January 2024). "SAS NS24 European Network Changes – 21JAN24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
25. Liu, Jim (4 July 2022). "SAS July/August 2022 Intra-Europe Operation Update - 03JUL22". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
26. "TUI fly Nordic will boost flight operations to Croatia". avioradar.hr. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
27. Ranter, Harro. "Incident Piper PA-46-310P Malibu / Jetprop DLX D-ETPW, 02 Aug 2009". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
28. "Two foreigners killed as small plane crashes in Croatia". macaubusiness.com. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
29. Ranter, Harro. "Incident Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage D-EIFA, 21 Sep 2011". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
30. "Accident Flight Design CTSW D-MVPP,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
31. Associated Press (31 March 2023). "2 foreign nationals die in small plane crash in Croatia". FOX News Network. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
32. "Pula, Croatia, on March 31, 2023. A small private plane with German registration number crashed at Pula Airport during takeoff, in Pula, Croatia, on March 31, 2023. Two people died in the crash. Photo: Srecko Niketic/PIXSELL Stock Photo - Alamy". www.alamy.com. Retrieved 18 May 2024.

External links

Media related to Pula Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website