Arad International Airport
Arad International Airport
Arad International Airport (IATA: ARW, ICAO: LRAR) is located 4 km (2.5 mi) west of Arad, in western Romania, in the historical region of Cri?ana. The airport is located only 60 km (37 mi) north of Timi?oara Airport. Arad International Airport also has a cargo terminal, the largest and most modern in western Romania. It is located 250 km from Budapest and 300 km from Belgrade. It is located near the border with Hungary, only 30 km from the closest point for crossing the border - Turnu and 20 km away from the closest railway point for crossing the border - Curtici. The airport also serves as the SMURD regional air ambulance base for the five western counties that form the region (Arad, Bihor, Timis, Hunedoara and Caras-Severin). SMURD Arad operates 1 Eurocopter EC135 converted for the air ambulance role. Arad Airport is directly connected to the A1 motorway (part of the Pan-European Corridor IV), one of the most important and heavily used motorways in Romania.
Location
46.176°N, 21.264°E · 107 m s. n. m. (352 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 1
Tower
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
Early years
On the land of the Gai suburb there already was an infrastructure with a runway, hangar and a terminal, from the military campaign from 1917. Here, on 14 July 1912, a big meeting took place when Aurel Vlaicu, a pioneer in Romanian aviation, returned from Aspen Vienna and he was seen by his fellow citizens as a national hero.
As a result of some negotiations that took place in order to build a new airport, on 30 May 1935 the civil municipal aviation give the land from the Ceala suburb where the constructions will start for building the infrastructure. The construction work ended in 1936 and the official inauguration of the new airport took place on 14 November 1937. From that moment all the air traffic was conducted on this location and the landings and taking off happened on a grass runway. In 1953 a concrete runway, 2000 meters long, was built, as the increased traffic demanded it. The A and D taxiways were built at the same time as the runway. The lighting system was rebuilt in 1954 using Elba lamps.
The current runway is east–west, concrete, with dimensions of 2000 × 45 m, and is endowed with a state-of-the-art IDMAN lighting system consisting of marginal and axial light, threshold lights, approach lightings on both directions of operation and a Category II instrument landing system.
Future Development
A runway extension to 2500 m (8202 ft) has been proposed for the past couple of years, however no viable financial solution has been found. The extension would allow heavier cargo aircraft to operate, making better use of the cargo terminal's capabilities.
Recent projects have taken into consideration the conversion of an unused part of the cargo terminal into a passenger departures terminal to attract more airlines to the airport. A passenger terminal extension or overhaul is deemed absolutely necessary for the development of the airport.
In June 2014, a contract was signed for the extension and re-design of the passenger terminal, including the conversion of unused space in the cargo terminal in a designated departures terminal. Once completed, the extension will bring more than 4,200 square meters of space for departures use and allow an additional increase in passenger flow of over 200,000 passengers/year. The existing passenger terminal will be used only for arrivals, while the new space will be transformed in a departures terminal. The cargo terminal will thus be reduced to 700 square meters of space, but the operator declared there still is sufficient space in the surrounding areas for future growth. Construction works are estimated to last 12 months.
Photo: Cristina SerbanHawkuletz at English Wikipedia · Public domain · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Arad International Airport (ARW). Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW
MLA
“Arad International Airport (ARW).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Arad International Airport (ARW).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Arad International Airport (ARW). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW (Accessed: 24 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_arw,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Arad International Airport (ARW)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW}},
urldate = {2026-10-24},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-24}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/ARW |title=Arad International Airport (ARW) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-24 |language=en}}