Tivat Airport (Montenegrin Аеродром Тиват, Aerodrom Tivat) (IATA: TIV, ICAO: LYTV) is an international airport serving the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat and the surrounding region.
The airport is situated 3 km (1.9 mi) south of the centre of Tivat, with the runway aligned with the Tivat Field (Montenegrin: Tivatsko polje).
It is the busier of two international airports in Montenegro, the other being Podgorica Airport. Traffic at the airport follows the highly seasonal nature of the tourism industry in coastal Montenegro, with 80% of the total volume of passengers being handled during the peak season (May–September). It has been one of the fastest growing airports in the region, doubling passenger flow in the 2006 - 2016 period.
Tivat airport is located right next to the city of Tivat, 8 km (5 mi) from the center of Kotor, and 20 km (12 mi) north-west of Budva, one of the most popular tourist destinations on the eastern Adriatic coast. The sole runway of the airport ends just 88 m (289 ft) from the coastline of the Bay of Kotor.
Tivat Airport is assigned 4D classification by ICAO, airspace class D, and is noted for its challenging approach and landing procedures. Landing at Tivat is considered demanding due to hilly terrain surrounding the valley in which the airport is situated, and strong prevailing crosswinds. Runway 32 approach requires a descent into the valley of Tivatsko polje, and a 20° turn for runway alignment just before landing. Runway 14 approach is even more challenging, because of the circle to land maneuver executed in the dramatic scenery surrounding the Bay of Kotor. It is known among pilots as the European Kai Tak because of its tricky approach and landing procedures. Passengers are awarded spectacular views of the bay, the surrounding mountains and a low flyby over Porto Montenegro luxury yacht marina. The airport is also popular among plane spotters, as end of the runway is easily accessible and offers unobstructed views of takeoffs and landings, with a scenic mountain backdrop.
Year-round services from the airport include Belgrade and Moscow; however, more than 80% of the traffic is concentrated in the summer period, with the introduction of seasonal and charter flights. With the opening of Porto Montenegro and introduction of other high end tourist services, the airport increasingly caters to business jets.
Adriatic Highway (E65/E80) passes right by the passenger terminal, making the airport easily accessible from the entire northern part of Montenegrin coast.
The airport in Tivat was opened on May 30, 1957, as a small airport with a single grass runway (1200 m × 80 m) a small apron (30 m × 30 m) and a terminal building complete with control tower. From 1957 to 1968, activity at the airport consisted mostly of domestic passenger traffic to Belgrade, Zagreb and Skopje, with JAT Douglas DC-3 and Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft.
From 1968 to 1971, the airport underwent expansion and modernization. It was reopened on September 25, 1971 with an asphalt runway (2500 m × 45 m), larger apron (450 m × 70 m), extended taxiways, and completely new passenger terminal and control tower. After the 1979 earthquake, the airport was once again refurbished. Notably, the apron was expanded (460 m × 91.5 m) and taxiways widened, so the airport could handle wide body aircraft.
On April 23, 2003, the ownership of the airport was transferred from Jat Airways to Airports of Montenegro Public Company, owned by Government of Montenegro. Since then, the airport was once again modernized and refurbished, with reconstructed passenger terminal opening on June 3, 2006. In October 2007, South Korea made a government donation valued at $1 million for a new airport equipment ranging from cargo-loaders to flight information display system. Further reforms came in 2008 when several old types of passenger aircraft such as the Ilyushin Il-86 were permanently banned from flying to Tivat and subsequently redirected to Podgorica Airport due to noise abatement.
However, as passenger traffic in the mid-2010s approaches the one-million mark, and strong growth continues, the passenger terminal is a bottleneck in peak summer months. Thus, a new passenger terminal is planned at Tivat Airport in the near future, along with further expansion of airport facilities.
Below is a list of scheduled services throughout all seasons from Tivat Airport according to the Montenegrin Airports Authority:
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Aeroflot | Moscow–Sheremetyevo |
Air Moldova | Seasonal charter: Chișinău |
Air Serbia | Belgrade |
Armenia Aircompany | Seasonal charter: Yerevan |
Anda Air | Seasonal charter: Kharkiv, Kiev-Zhuliany, Zaporizhia |
Azur Air | Seasonal charter: Moscow–Domodedovo |
Belavia | Seasonal charter: Minsk, Gomel |
Bravo Airways | Seasonal charter: Kharkiv, Kiev-Zhuliany |
Brussels Airlines | Brussels (begins in 2018) |
Bulgaria Air | Seasonal charter: Sofia |
DART Ukrainian Airlines | Seasonal charter: Kharkiv, Kiev-Zhuliany, Odessa |
easyJet | Seasonal: London–Gatwick, Manchester |
easyJet Switzerland | Seasonal: Geneva |
Enter Air | Seasonal charter: Warsaw–Chopin |
Eurowings | Seasonal: Düsseldorf |
flydubai | Seasonal: Dubai–International |
Israir | Seasonal: Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion |
I-Fly | Seasonal charter: Moscow–Vnukovo |
Jet Time | Seasonal charter: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda |
Mistral Air | Seasonal: Bari, Naples, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona |
Montenegro Airlines | Belgrade, Moscow–Domodedovo Seasonal: London–Gatwick, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, St. Petersburg |
Norwegian Air Shuttle | Seasonal: Oslo–Gardermoen |
NordStar | Seasonal: Moscow–Domodedovo, St. Petersburg |
Pobeda Airlines LLC | Seasonal: Moscow–Vnukovo |
Rossiya | Seasonal: Moscow–Vnukovo, St. Petersburg |
Red Wings Airlines | Seasonal: St Petersburg |
S7 Airlines | Moscow–Domodedovo |
S7 Airlines operated by Globus Airlines |
Moscow–Domodedovo |
Scandinavian Airlines | Seasonal charter: Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda |
Small Planet Airlines | Seasonal: Vilnius |
SmartLynx Airlines | Seasonal: Tallinn, Riga |
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium | Seasonal: Brussels (ends 2 October 2017) |
Transavia France | Seasonal: Paris–Orly |
Travel Service Airlines | Seasonal charter: Lille |
TUI fly Belgium | Seasonal: Brussels |
TUI fly Netherlands | Seasonal Charter: Amsterdam |
Ukraine International Airlines | Seasonal charter: Kiev-Boryspil, Lviv |
Ural Airlines | Seasonal: Moscow–Domodedovo, Samara, Yekaterinburg |
Windrose Airlines | Seasonal charter: Dnipro, Kiev-Boryspil, Odessa |
<timeline>
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Year | Passengers | Change | Aircraft movements | Change |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 451,289 | 20% | 3,261 | 29% |
2007 | 573,914 | 27% | 4,079 | 25% |
2008 | 570,636 | 1% | 4,630 | 14% |
2009 | 532,080 | 7% | 4,226 | 9% |
2010 | 541,870 | 2% | 4,017 | 4% |
2011 | 647,184 | 19% | 4,531 | 12% |
2012 | 725,412 | 12% | 4,605 | 2% |
2013 | 868,343 | 20% | 5,198 | 14% |
2014 | 910,264 | 5% | 5,281 | 1% |
2015 | 895,050 | 2% | 5,422 | 2% |
2016 | 979,432 | 10% | 5,985 | 10% |
2017 (22 Sept) | 1,000,000 |
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