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Pardubice Airport

Coordinates: 50°00′48″N 15°44′19″E / 50.01333°N 15.73861°E / 50.01333; 15.73861
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Pardubice Airport

Letiště Pardubice
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OperatorEBA a. s.
ServesPardubice, Czech Republic
Elevation AMSL741 ft / 226 m
Coordinates50°00′48″N 15°44′19″E / 50.01333°N 15.73861°E / 50.01333; 15.73861
Websiteairport-pardubice.cz
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 8,202 2,500 Concrete
Statistics (2023)
Passengers123 119[1]
Passenger change 22–23Increase48%
Cargo169 t
Cargo change 21–22Decrease16%

Pardubice Airport (Czech: Letiště Pardubice) (IATA: PED, ICAO: LKPD) is both military and civilian international airport in the city of Pardubice, Czech Republic. Apart from the military purpose, it is used for scheduled services, charter flights to Southern Europe during the summer season and cargo flights.

After the construction of a new terminal building, apron and ground handling facilities in 2017, Pardubice Airport opened up to serve more passengers and handle standard commercial aircraft such as Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 providing better and faster services. The new terminal building bears the name of Jan Kašpar, a Czech aviation pioneer. Airport's 2017 refurbishment and construction costed 256 million CZK and was fully funded by the Pardubice City Council and Pardubice Region through their shared subsidiary company East Bohemian Airport, a.s. that runs the airport.

History

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Early years

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In 1910 Jan Kašpar, an engineer and aviation enthusiast, and his cousin Eugen Čihák, bought a Bleriot XI aeroplane and started with flight experiments on the local military exercise ground in Pardubice. On 16 April 1910 Kašpar flew for the first time and as the first person in Czech lands. In later years he arranged flight exhibitions over the country, most famously his flight from Pardubice to Prague (120 km) on 13 May 1911.

The first flying club in the Czech lands was founded in Pardubice on 26 April 1911. The club, named Pardubice Aviation society (Aviatické družstvo Pardubice) had five hangars but during World War I its activities stopped. After the war the place held occasional flight exhibitions. Since the end of 1929 the airport was used as a training place for aviation enthusiasts; expanded to 25 hectares, it was one of the largest in the country. Since 1933 the airport was also used for glider training. Between 1936 and 1937 new modern airport facilities were built. In 1939 the airfield took receipt of 39 airplanes from the Soviet Union, including 21 twin-engined bombers.[2]

During World War II the airport served for training of Luftwaffe pilots, toward the end of the war for combat operations, and was destroyed by bombing.

Development since World War II

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Between 1950 and 1995, the airport was used only for the military. A 2,500 m long concrete runway was built and a pilot training centre established. The airport hosted the 4th and 18th Fighter Air Wings (4. stíhaci a 18. stíhací letecký pluk) equipped with S-199, MiG-15, C-2, C-5, C-11, MiG-19S, MiG-19PM, MiG-21F and Mi-1 helicopters, the 47th Reconnaissance Wing (47. průzkumný letecký pluk) with MiG-21R, Il-28L, Il-14 and later with Su-22 and since 1986 the 30th Strafer Wing (30. bitevní letecký pluk) with Su-25K. Large support military units were located next to the airport and in the city.

During the 1990s the military role of the airport gradually declined. Since 1994 the airport was used as a training base (34. základna školního letectva) but in 2003 the army reduced the role of the airport to provide maintenance and logistics.

In 1993 the company East Bohemian Airport a.s. aiming to open the airport for civil use was formed. Officially, the airport was opened for civil operation on 18 May 1995. Since 1 November 1996 the airport has been authorised for operation under the Instrument flight rules.

Airlines and destinations

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The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Pardubice:[3]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Montenegro Seasonal charter: Podgorica[4]
Bulgaria Air Seasonal charter: Burgas[5]
Ryanair[6] Alicante
Seasonal: Girona[7]
Smartwings[8] Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum,[9] Burgas, Corfu, Heraklion, Hurghada, Kos, Lamezia Terme,[10] Marsa Alam, Monastir, Palma de Mallorca, Reus,[11] Rhodes

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at PED airport. See Wikidata query.
Year
Passengers
handled
Passenger
% Change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% Change
Aircraft
movements

% Change
2018[12] 147,572 183 1,871
2019[13] 102,206 Decrease-30.74 187 Increase2.18 1,649 Decrease-11.86
2020[14] 33,901 Decrease-66.83 871 Increase365.77 1,174 Decrease-28.80
2021[15] 80,796 Increase138.32 203 Decrease-76.69 1,539 Increase31.09
2022[16] 82,891 Increase2.59 169 Decrease-16.74 1,563 Increase1.55
2023[17] 123,119 Increase48.53

Accidents and incidents

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  • On 1 September 2017, a Eurofighter Typhoon of the Royal Air Force overran the runway on landing at Pardubice.[18]
  • On August 1, 2018 a Travel Service Boeing 737 overshot the runway upon landing from Heraklion on a wet runway.[19]

See also

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References

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Citations
  1. ^ "Pardubické letiště má za sebou pátý nejlepší rok, letos chce útočit na rekord". idnes.cz.
  2. ^ "Soviet Bombers in Czechoslovakia". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 22 September 1938.
  3. ^ airport-pardubice.cz - Scheduled flights Archived 11 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 26 December 2016
  4. ^ "Fischer first minute odlety z Pardubic".
  5. ^ "CK VVVTour Letecká doprava".
  6. ^ "Ryanair bude létat z Pardubic do španělského Alicante". www.happyfly.cz (in Czech). 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Ryanair posílí i v Pardubicích, přidá linku do Barcelony Girony" (in Czech). 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  8. ^ "DER Touristik expanduje v Pardubicích, nabídne čtyři nové destinace". www.zdopravy.cz (in Czech). 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Fischer first minute odlety z Pardubic".
  10. ^ "Fischer first minute odlety z Pardubic".
  11. ^ "Fischer first minute odlety z Pardubic".
  12. ^ "O SPOLEČNOSTI – Letiště Pardubice".
  13. ^ "O SPOLEČNOSTI – Letiště Pardubice".
  14. ^ "O SPOLEČNOSTI – Letiště Pardubice".
  15. ^ "O SPOLEČNOSTI – Letiště Pardubice".
  16. ^ "O SPOLEČNOSTI – Letiště Pardubice".
  17. ^ Zlinský, Milan (10 January 2024). "Pardubické letiště má za sebou pátý nejlepší rok, letos chce útočit na rekord". iDNES.
  18. ^ "Typhoon accident during arrival to CIAF". Airshow info. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  19. ^ "Incident: Smartwings B738 at Pardubice on Aug 1st 2018, overran runway on landing".
Bibliography
  • Journal ZPRÁVY Klubu přátel Pardubicka (Club of Pardubice Patriots News).[1] Articles written by Pavel Sviták and several other authors since the 1980s cover history of aviation in Pardubice.
  • Pavel Sviták: První český letec inženýr Jan Kašpar a začátky českého letectví : příběh našeho prvního letce, jeho předchůdců, spolupracovníků a současníků s přihlédnutím k vývoji letectví ve světě (The first Czech pilot Jan Kašpar and the beginning of Czech aviation), 2003, East Bohemian Museum in Pardubice, ISBN 80-86046-65-6.
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Media related to Pardubice Airport at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ^ "Klub p??tel Pardubicka". Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
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