International Airport Transylvania
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Introduction – “Transylvania”Airport Tîrgu Mureș

The Tîrgu Mureș Airport is named Transylvania, a brand recognized both locally and internationally for its beautiful scenery and cultural wealth.

The extremely favourable geographical position of “Transylvania” Airport Tîrgu Mureș, both domestically and to the main capitals in the region – Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest and Chisinau – is one of its main advantages. Thanks to its favourable position near the railway Deda-Războieni, the European route E60 Bucharest-Budapest and future Transylvania highway, the airport has the opportunity to become the biggest business, transport and touristic hub in Transylvania.

Located just 14.5 kilometres away from the city of Tîrgu Mureș, the airport is easily accessible for people who wish to travel, to visit friends and family or to go on business trips. With the increase in domestic and international air traffic, “Transylvania” Airport supports the region’s socio-economic growth and contributes to its steady GDP growth.

Due to its favourable prices and tariffs, “Transylvania” Airport offers an alternative mode of transport by introducing low-cost flights, thus reducing the time spent in transit and increasing time spent at the destination with the loved ones.

The catchment area includes Alba, Bistrița, Brașov, Cluj, Covasna, Harghita, Mureș, Sibiu and Suceava counties, with a population of approximately 3.9 million people. The service area extends to a distance of around 90 minutes drive from the cities of Miercurea Ciuc, Brașov, Alba Iulia and Bistrița.

In the year 2014, the airport was no. 4 on the list of airports in Romania with 343.521 of passengers served.

After the renovation of the runway, it now has a carrying capacity of 70 units, which allows for medium-sized aircraft operations.

Certified as an international airport in 2012, “Transylvania” Airport offers complete airport services at high standards and advantageous prices to strengthen its position as the epitome of low-cost airports for Transylvania.

The airport has several passenger terminals that have a total area of 4 182 m2, with 7 check-in desks and a terminal service capacity of 400 people per peak hour, i.e. around 800,000 passengers per year. There are 180 parking spaces at the airport. Inside the airport there is an exchange office, an ATM and passengers can benefit from services such as rent-a-car and duty-free.

History

Transylvania Airport Tîrgu Mureș was founded in 1936, when its location was only 2.5 km away from the city centre of Tîrgu Mureș, on a 313 ha field, on the left side of the river Mureș. The coordinates were 24°14’ east longitude and 46°33’ north latitude, the location being the same place where on the 4th of September 1912, Aurel Vlaicu landed with the plane he built. The first flights were towards Bucharest, Cluj and Budapest with Li 2 type aircraft.

In the month of September 1944, the airfield and the hangar were blown up by Hitler’s troops, who were retreating towards Budapest, but after a relatively short period, the local newspaper Szabad Szo published a story under the title “The students are flying again”, showing that the flights have resumed on the 9th of July 1945.

The initiation flights for TARS airline took place in July 1950 with Li 2 type planes on the route Tîrgu Mureș – București, and continued throughout the year, carrying around 4,350 passengers. Transylvania Airport was equipped with a meteorological station according to its weather standards and a broadcast centre alongside a LORENZ type transmitter. Daytime beaconing was provided by wooden and metal beacons painted red and white. Also in 1950, through voluntary work, the reconstruction of the hangar started, while on the ground floor of the Palace of Culture, the airline TARS set up an agency, later known as TAROM.

Alongside the 124 m2 expansion of the terminal and the construction of the 7 meter tall control tower, in 1953, the runway was extended to 1,100 meters and the total area by 24 ha.

In 1960 served by 18 employees of Transylvania Airport, Li 2, PO 2, IAR 813, IAR 817, MR 2 and AN 2 type aircrafts transported, around 19,600 passengers. The next year construction began on the new site of the airport, downstream of the river Mureș, next to Vidrasău village, with the coordinates 24°24’51’’ east longitude and 46°28’04’’ north latitude. Situated 14 km from the city of Tîrgu Mureș, on an area of 78 ha and at an altitude of 294 m above sea level, the first commander of the new Transylvania Airport was Mr. Molnar Tiberiu. The new airport had a concrete runway of 1,325 x 30 meters, a terminal of 810 m2, a power station of 268 m2, an industrial building of 299 m2, a 73 m2 beacon situated 1,100 meters from the runway threshold, a 29 m2 transmitter at 1,700 meters from the threshold on the axis of the runway, a concrete boarding platform of 2,140 m2, a simplified beacon for night-time flights and a control tower.

The modernization of the airport started in 1969, when Transylvania Airport was inaugurated on its new site near Vidrasău, and in 1978 the runway was extended to 2,000 x 30 + 15 meters alongside the boarding platform, which was now 14,110 m2.

Under the command of Mr Fratean Dan Claudiu, the airport served 27,872 passengers in 1990.

In 1992, with the formation of ROMATSA, the airport staff was split into specialized subgroups.

In 1994 the overall development project of the airport was promoted. Named “Eurodirect 35”, the project included the development of the airport’s infrastructure and facilities in accordance with air traffic requirements, as well as their correlation with the Cargo Zone, Free Economic Zone and Amusement Park. Around the same time, Transylvania Airport became the first member of ACI Romania.

The Government Decision no. 398 from 1997, transferred the airport under the custody of Mureș County’s Council.

The modernization of the beaconing system was initiated in 2001, after which the airport was supplied with new equipment to better handle the planes and the company’s staff took part in specialized theoretical courses at Hamburg and practical ones at the Lubeck airport in Germany.

GAC Hamburg conceived the “Market research and marketing study on the potential of Transylvania Airport” in 2002 and the airport became a member of ARC. Also in 2002, under the command of Mr. Runcan Petru Stefan, the air traffic consisted of 5,000 passengers and there was an air traffic re-launch campaign promoting high quality standards at low costs, depending on the operating frequency.

In 2005, major investments were completed and put into operation, such as: the expansion of the aerodrome, the modernization of the beaconing system, the upgrade of perimeter security, all while 12,571 passengers were served by launching the first Carpatair and Cimber Air flights and re-launching Tarom flights from the airport.

The airport got its full “Transylvania Airport Tîrgu Mureș” name in May of 2006. In the same year, the airport’s first flights from MALEV, WIZZ AIR and BLUE AIR started.

On the 4th of May 2012, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure releases Order no. 360, certifying Transylvania Airport as an international airport. The next year on the 30th of April 2013, the Irish company Ryanair started its activity at the airport with flights to Brussels and Pisa.

Between 2010 and 2013, Transylvania Airport saw a growth of 380 percent in passenger numbers, becoming Romania’s most dynamic airport regarding passenger volume.

On the 25th of June 2018, the airport reopened its doors to international traffic, after extensive improvements were made to the runway. The new runway of Transylvania Airport has a carrying capacity of 70 units, which allows operations for medium-sized aircrafts.