Poprad–Tatry Airport

Poprad–Tatry Airport (Slovak: Letisko Poprad-Tatry) (IATA: TAT, ICAO: LZTT) is an airport in the Slovak ski resort town of Poprad. It is an airport with one of the highest elevations in Central Europe, at 718 m, which is 150 m higher than Innsbruck Airport in Austria, and 989 m lower than Samedan Airport in Switzerland.

Poprad–Tatry Airport

Letisko Poprad-Tatry
Summary
Airport typePublic
ServesPoprad, Slovakia; Zakopane, Poland
Elevation AMSL2,356 ft / 718 m
Coordinates49°04′25″N 20°14′28″E
Websiteairport-poprad.sk
Map
TAT is located in Slovakia
TAT
TAT
Location of airport in Slovakia
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 8,530 2,600 Concrete
07R/25L 2,493 760 Grass
07L/25R 2,493 760 Grass

Services

The airport serves schedule and charter airline operations, is a base for search and rescue air services, and handles general aviation. It does not offer any domestic flights. Charter flights are mainly operated in winter. Medical flights, VIP flights, ad hoc charters and ACMI flight also operate from the airport.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Poprad–Tatry:

AirlinesDestinations
Bul Air Seasonal charter: Burgas[1]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya[2]
Ryanair London–Stansted (begins 1 November 2023)[3]
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Antalya[4]
Wizz Air London–Luton

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at TAT airport. See Wikidata query.

Passenger throughput and operations since 2014:[5][6][7][8]

Year Passengers Change
2000 12,780 N/A
2005 18,335 N/A
2010 27,693 N/A
2013 24,565 N/A
2014 31,694 +29.0%
2015 85,224 +172.7%
2016 84,030 -1.4%
2017 80,605 -4.1%
2018 88,387 +9.7%
2019 94,249 +6.5%
2020 24,189 -74,54%
2021 15,481 -36,0%

Accidents and incidents

On 20 December 1980, a East German Interflug Flight 302, a Tupolev Tu-134 en route from Berlin Schönefeld to Budapest Ferenc Liszt received a bomb threat, saying that the bomb would go off once the plane descends lower than 600 meters. Since the Poprad Airport is located at 718 meters, the plane was diverted there. Upon landing, a backpack was found which did not belong to any of the passengers.[9]

According to Slovak police, during a routine training exercise involving police dogs at Poprad Airport on 2 January 2010, an officer from Slovakia’s Border and Foreigners’ Police put two pieces of a high explosive, hexogen (RDX), which experts say is more powerful than TNT, among the luggage of passengers travelling on a Danube Wings airline flight from Poprad to Dublin, Ireland. The dogs succeeded in finding both pieces, but the policeman accidentally left one of them, a package containing 95g of the substance, among the luggage. When he realised his mistake, he notified the airport administration but not his superiors, whom he informed only on 4 January 2010.[10]

On 3 August 2012 during the construction works the Mi-8 helicopter of TECHMONT company flew several times to Chata pod Rysmi mountain hut, located at 2250 meters over the sea. When the goods were offloaded there (carried on the rope under the helicopter), during the steep descent through the valley the free end of the rope hit the tail rotor blades, causing damage to it. The crew was able to fly the chopper to Poprad airport, but on approach controlling the helicopter became more and more difficult until it crash-landed within the airport perimeter and rolled to its side with main rotor and tail section destructed. Two from three members onboard received minor injuries.[11]

On 26 May 2021 after landing of Aerospool WT-9 Dynamic nose wheel collapsed, pilot escaped unhurt.[12]

References
  1. https://poprad.dnes24.sk/kam-sa-da-odletiet-na-dovolenku-z-popradu-na-letisku-pripravili-aj-viacere-novinky-435839
  2. https://poprad.dnes24.sk/kam-sa-da-odletiet-na-dovolenku-z-popradu-na-letisku-pripravili-aj-viacere-novinky-435839
  3. https://centreforaviation.com/news/ryanair-to-launch-london-stansted-poprad-service-1218851
  4. https://poprad.dnes24.sk/kam-sa-da-odletiet-na-dovolenku-z-popradu-na-letisku-pripravili-aj-viacere-novinky-435839
  5. "Airport Poprad – Tatry". Airport-poprad.sk. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  6. "Výkony letísk". mindop.sk. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  7. "Výkony za rok 2020". MY Tatry. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  8. "Výkony za rok 2021". teraz.sk. 26 January 2022.
  9. "Bombe bei Interflug". Der Spiegel. 1980–1981. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  10. "Slovak police mistakenly plant explosive on Poprad-to-Dublin flight". The Slovak Spectator. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  11. "Final investigation report on accident". Letecký a námorný vyšetrovací útvar (in Slovak). Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  12. "Small plane crashed in Poprad, nose wheel collapsed". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 21 June 2022.

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