Timișoara Traian Vuia International Airport

Timișoara Traian Vuia International Airport () is an international airport serving Timișoara, Romania. Located in the historical region of Banat, the airport is named in honor of Traian Vuia, a Romanian flight pioneer and a Timiș County native. It is the fourth-busiest Romanian airport in terms of air traffic and the main air transportation hub for the western part of Romania and for the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion.

Timișoara Airport is one of the four airports in Romania that has a runway longer than 3 km (the other three are Henri Coandă Intl. and Aurel Vlaicu Intl. in Bucharest and Mihail Kogălniceanu Intl. in Constanța). It serves as an operating base for Wizz Air and is considered a backup airport for Belgrade (BEG), Bucharest (OTP) and Budapest (BUD). located in the homonymous district (Aeroport) and borders Giarmata-Vii, a component village of the commune of Ghiroda. Access to the airport is made on European route E70. It featured access roads and railway lines for transport to the base, barracks for technical and navigational staff, a Telefunken radio station, a hydrogen production facility, and a massive hangar measuring 180 meters in length and 34 meters in width. The hangar was constructed on a metal frame with a triangular cross-section.

During World War I, zeppelins erected from the base in Dudeștii Noi bombed Bucharest, Ploiești, Chișinău and Thessaloniki. After the closure of this air base, in 1919, the villagers tried to dismantle it piece by piece, but the metal framework of the hall that once housed the German zeppelins collapsed on them, and five people died. Until its dissolution in 1864–1865, the village of Cioca, known in Hungarian as Csoka, was located on the site of the airport. Due to difficulties in financing the works and the improper soil (clay soil, standing water), the project of relocating the airport was abandoned, and the structures already built were ceded to the Central Meteorological Institute.

Timișoara Airport was under siege during the 1989 Revolution. TABs were placed at each gate, and buses carrying passengers or employees were carefully checked by militiamen. The international terminal was expanded and modernized in 2004.

In July 2021, a new external arrivals terminal was inaugurated, followed by a new departures terminal in March 2024, with the goal being to support a flow of about three million passengers per year.

Future developments

An 8-kilometer road connecting the Timișoara Airport and A1 will be built to shorten the distance between the airport and the motorway and reduce heavy traffic in Ghiroda and Remetea Mare. In 2021, Timiș County Council took over an area of about 46 ha of land for the construction of an intermodal freight center at Timișoara Airport and its subsequent connection to the regional intermodal freight center in Remetea Mare. There are plans for an airport city through which will be built, in addition to air transport facilities, connecting road and rail transport infrastructure, hotels, restaurants, shops, conference centers and exhibition halls. It is planned to be financed with both public and private funds.

Military use

thumb|A [[C-130 Hercules of the US Air Force Reserve at the Timișoara Air Base in 1996]]

Giarmata Airport was home to the Romanian Air Force 93rd Air Base, founded in 1953. The 93rd Air Base was disbanded in September 2004 with the MiG-21 Lancers and IAR 330 moving to Câmpia Turzii for reassignment to the 71st Air Base. Buildings and land belonging to the former 93rd Air Base, totaling 240 ha, were transferred to Timișoara Airport in 2006. The air base also operated the MiG-23 Flogger, which was retired in early 2002. Over 30 MiG-23s are in storage at Timișoara Airport. Nowadays, the military section of the airport is an annex of the 71st Air Base.

Terminals

Terminal A is the oldest terminal, built in 1964 and modernized in 2002. It covers an area of 4,383 m<sup>2</sup> and is optimized for three passenger flows, with three baggage check-in conveyors, 10 document checkpoints and three customs checkpoints.

A new 12,000 m<sup>2</sup> departures terminal (dedicated to Schengen flights) was inaugurated in March 2024.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Timișoara Traian Vuia Airport: