Rijeka Airport

Rijeka Airport
Zračna luka Rijeka/Krk I.
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorRijeka Airport Ltd.
ServesRijeka
LocationOmišalj, Croatia
Elevation AMSL278 ft / 85 m
Coordinates45°13′01″N 014°34′13″E / 45.21694°N 14.57028°E / 45.21694; 14.57028
Websiterijeka-airport.hr
Map
RJK
Location of the airport in Croatia
RJK
RJK (Krk)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 2,500 8,202 Concrete/asphalt
Statistics (2025)
Passengers160,249 10.4%
Croatian Aeronautical Information Publication[1]

Rijeka Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Rijeka, Italian: Aeroporto di Fiume; IATA: RJK, ICAO: LDRI) is the international airport serving Rijeka, Croatia. It is located near the town of Omišalj on the island of Krk, 17 km from the Rijeka railway station.[1] Most of the traffic to and from the airport occurs during the summer months, when it is used by several European low-cost airlines flying tourists to the northern parts of the Croatian coast.

It's the 6th busiest airport in Croatia, with over 160,000 passengers in 2025.[2]

History

Rijeka Airport opened in May 1970. The first plane to depart carried Josip Broz Tito and his wife.[3]

Before the Second World War, Rijeka was divided between Yugoslavia and Italy. The Yugoslav part of the city was served by the airfield in Sušak. Domestic airline Aeroput opened a route linking Sušak to Zagreb in 1930, and a year later, a route linking Zagreb to Belgrade via Sušak, Split and Sarajevo was opened. By 1936, Aeroput linked the city to Belgrade, Borovo, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Split and Zagreb.[4] The Italian part of the city was connected to many Italian cities with regular flights provided by Italian company Ala Littoria.[5]

The Grobnik airport had difficulty with larger planes, as its runways were close to the hills to the east of the city. With larger airliners coming on board, planners decided on a location on Krk after considering locations close to Opatija and near Urinj, which would have required moving some hills.[3]

Facilities

Terminal

Rijeka airport has a single terminal building which dates back to its original opening in 1970. Over the decades minor upgrades have been made. The terminal has seven gates: one domestic and six international. None of the gates have jet bridges and boarding is by walking from the terminal to the aircraft. The arrivals hall features a single baggage belt. On the upper floor there is a small duty free shop in the international area, mostly featuring local products, as well as a café bar. Another bar with a limited selection of snacks is located in the entrance hall. Domestic departures have no facilities after the security checkpoint. Several car rental agencies maintain offices during the summer season.

Runway

The airport has a single runway, approximately 2500 m long and 45 m wide. There are no taxiways. Consequently, aircraft have to turn at the end of the runway and taxi back along the runway to approach the terminal. Runway 14 has CAT I ILS landing aids installed.

Ground transportation

Since the airport is located on the island of Krk, there is a dedicated bus line from Rijeka and Omišalj which runs as needed, considering the flight arrival times. The shuttle would not operate unless bookings are made 24 hours prior to departure.

Airlines and destinations

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

AirlinesDestinations
Air Dolomiti Seasonal: Munich[6]
Air Serbia Seasonal: Belgrade[7]
Croatia Airlines Munich[8]
Eurowings Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn,[9] Düsseldorf,[10] Hamburg,[10] Stuttgart[11]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt[12]
Ryanair Seasonal: Charleroi,[13] Hahn,[14] London–Stansted,[15] Stockholm–Arlanda,[13] Wrocław[16]
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Zürich (begins 29 June 2026)[17][18]
Trade Air Dubrovnik,[19] Osijek,[19] Split,[19] Zadar[19]
Wizz Air Seasonal: Gdańsk,[20] Katowice,[20] Lublin[20] (all begin 9 June 2026)

Statistics

Traffic figures at Rijeka Airport[21][22]
Year Passengers Change Aircraft movements Change Cargo Change
2011 84,713 28.32% 2,680 32.84%
2012 77,082 7.77% 2,290 15.49%
2013 142,975 93.47% 2,653 17.13%
2014 106,235 26.82% 2,378 10.37%
2015 139,718 37.06% 4,014 68.80%
2016 145,297 3.99% 4,146 3.29%
2017 142,111 2.2% 4,937 19.1% 2,130,742
2018 183,606 29.2% 5,460 10.6% 4,655,866 118.5%
2019 200,841 9.4% 4,942 9.4% 1,025.879 78.0%
2020 27,680 86.22% 3,360 32.01% 259,226 74,73%
2021 56,388 103.71% 4,286 27.55% 56 99,98%
2022 164,086 190.99% 4,392 2.47% 41,077 73.78%
2023 154,367 5.92%
2024 145,148 5.97% 5,114 8,306
2025 160,249 10.4% 5,904 15.45% 10,414 25.38%

Incidents and accidents

  • On 23 May 1971, Aviogenex Flight 130 crashed on approach to Rijeka Airport because of rough landing in bad weather conditions,[23][24] killing 78 people and leaving five survivors. Among the victims was the Croatian poet Josip Pupačić with his wife and daughter.

References

  1. ^ a b AIP from the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
  2. ^ "PROMET 2024/2025" (PDF). rijeka-airport.hr. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Nesuđeni aerodrom na Urinju – Moja Rijeka". www.mojarijeka.hr. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016.
  4. ^ Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927–1948) at europeanairlines.no
  5. ^ Ala Littoria at timetableimages.com
  6. ^ "Air Dolomiti Assumes Lufthansa Munich – Rijeka Service in NS25". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Air Serbia unveils summer expansion". 19 January 2022.
  8. ^ Liu, Jim. "Croatia Airlines NW23 Network Changes – 20AUG23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  9. ^ Liu, Jim (13 March 2024). "Eurowings NS24 Leased Smartwings 737-800 Operating Routes". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  10. ^ a b Liu, Jim (14 February 2023). "Eurowings NS23 Network Update – 12FEB23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  11. ^ Liu, Jim (27 June 2022). "Lufthansa Group Carriers July/August 2022 Intra-Europe Adjustment - 26JUN22". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  12. ^ Liu, Jim (22 January 2024). "Lufthansa / Air Dolomiti NS24 European Network/Frequency Changes – 21JAN24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Rijeka, Croatia". OAG Flight Guide Worldwide. 25 (2). Luton, United Kingdom: OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited: 908. August 2023. ISSN 1466-8718.
  14. ^ "Ryanair schedules new Rijeka service". ExYuAviation. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  15. ^ "Vraća se linija London - Rijeka!". Croatian Aviation. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Ryanair najavio novu liniju prema Rijeci". 6 December 2024.
  17. ^ "SWISS uvodi liniju prema Rijeci". Croatianaviation. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  18. ^ "SWISS's 2026 summer schedules: non-stop flights to FIFA World Cup soccer venues and new European destinations". Swiss. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d "LIST OF PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATIONS" (PDF). Aeroroutes.com. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  20. ^ a b c Italiavola, Pubblicato da (20 November 2025). "Wizz Air apre 5 rotte". Italiavola & Travel (in Italian). Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  21. ^ "Croatian Bureau of Statistics". Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  22. ^ "Rijeka Airport" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  23. ^ ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 134A YU-AHZ Rijeka Airport (RJK) – 2 photographs
  24. ^ Авиакатастрофы самолётов Ту-134 (in Russian)

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