Pula Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Pula; it, Aeroporto di Pola; ) is the

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

serving

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the I ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

, and is located 6 km from the city centre. It served 777,568 passengers in 2019. The airport is designated as the alternative airport for parts of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

and a multitude of cities in eastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It serves as a major access point to city of Pula, as well as most of

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...

, most notably Brijuni national park.

History

Pula Airport at current location was initially used only for military purposes but has been changed to civil airport as of 1 May 1967 and saw 701,370 passengers in 1987. Same year works on new terminal building began and were completed by 1989 with capacity of 1 million passengers per year.

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

has caused sharp decline in passenger numbers. Airport has seen steady increase in passenger volume over the next 3 decades, surpassing previous record in 2018. As most passengers flying to/from Pula airport are holiday makers flight numbers have a significant seasonal character.

Facilities

Pula Airport has a single terminal building with capacity of 1 million passengers per year. Airport serves both domestic and international flights. Inside the terminal there are 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 terminal building to the aircraft or are transferred by bus. Because of its location and fairly good weather conditions whole year around, as well as lower flight numbers during winter months it is frequently used by European carriers for training flights.

Ground transportation

Airport can be reached by dedicated bus line from centre of Pula. Schedule is adjusted on a monthly basis to meet the flights arrival/departure.

Airlines and destinations

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

Statistics

Ground transportation

A bus that goes to/from the airport ("Pula Zracna Luka") and the Pula central bus terminal ("Bus Kolodvor"). A taxi can be taken to the outskirts of Pula (specifically, Verudela, where Hotel Palma and Histria are located).

Incidents and accidents

*On 2 August 2009, a private Piper PA-46-310P Malibu, from

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

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 5 passengers. *On 21 September 2011, the left main gear on a private Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage collapsed after it made a 180 turn to line-up with the runway. The runway was closed for 3 hours as a result. The plane received a minor damage and there were no injuries reported among the 4 passengers in the aircraft.

References

External links

* {{authority control Airports in Croatia

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

Buildings and structures in Istria County Transport in Istria County