Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
M. R. Štefánik Airport (LZIB) is the principal international airport of Slovakia, situated a little over five miles northeast of Bratislava city centre near Ivanka pri Dunaji. It offers a substantial pair of hard-surfaced runways with ILS approaches, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for pilots flying into the Slovak capital.
M. R. Štefánik Airport, commonly known as Bratislava Airport, is Slovakia's main international gateway, lying just outside the capital in the municipality of Ivanka pri Dunaji. It takes its name from the Slovak general and diplomat Milan Rastislav Štefánik, whose aircraft crashed nearby in 1919, and today serves as a base for several airlines as well as the Slovak Government Flying Service. For a simulator pilot, it offers the experience of a busy, fully instrumented European international airport with two substantial runways, ILS approaches and a general aviation terminal, all within easy reach of the city of Bratislava.
The airport lies to the northeast of Bratislava city centre, spanning the districts of Bratislava-Ružinov and Bratislava-Vrakuňa as well as the neighbouring municipality of Ivanka pri Dunaji. As a major international airport it sits within controlled airspace served by its own approach and tower control, and pilots can expect to operate under a full ATC service rather than as an uncontrolled circuit.
The airport has two physical runways arranged roughly at right angles. Runway 13/31 is the longer, recorded at 10,454 feet for runway 13 and 9,666 feet for runway 31, both with a hard surface and lit, with an ILS approach serving runway 31. Runway 04/22 is 9,555 feet long in each direction, also hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS approach serving runway 22.
Pilots can expect to work Bratislava Approach on 120.9 MHz, the ATIS on 128.65 MHz, and Bratislava Tower on 118.3 MHz. Both main runway directions, 31 and 22, are equipped with ILS for instrument approaches.
As a controlled international aerodrome with radar approach control and tower services, arrivals and departures are handled under ATC direction rather than informal circuit joining; pilots should expect to receive routing and approach clearances from Bratislava Approach and Tower rather than fly a conventional visual circuit.
The site was developed from 1947, with construction beginning the following year on two runways, an original 04/22 measuring 1,900 metres and a 13/31 of 1,500 metres, and the airport, then known as Bratislava-Ivanka, opened in 1951. Before this, Bratislava's air traffic had used a smaller airfield at Vajnory, about three kilometres away, from as early as 1923 when Czechoslovak Airlines began the first regular Prague-Bratislava service. The airport was renamed after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik shortly after Slovak independence in 1993; Štefánik had died in 1919 when his aircraft crashed on approach to Bratislava. Both runways underwent complete reconstruction during the 1980s, with runway 13/31 subsequently brought up to ICAO Category IIIA approach and landing standard and 04/22 to Category I. A new control tower was added in the 1990s, and the current passenger terminal was completed in July 2012.
Bratislava Airport today functions as Slovakia's principal international airport, serving as a base for the Slovak Government Flying Service and for airlines including Ryanair, Wizz Air, AirExplore, Smartwings Slovakia and, seasonally, Air Horizont. A General Aviation Terminal handles private, business and VIP flights alongside emergency and crew movements, and two maintenance companies, Austrian Technik Bratislava and East Air Company, are based on the field. The airport is certified to category 4E for aircraft handling, with category 7 or 8 rescue cover available on request.