Bratislava Milan Rastislav Stefánik Airport will close to all traffic from April 21 to May 1, 2020, due to renovation works on the intersection between runways 04/22 (2,900 metres in length) and 13/31 (3,190 metres).

According to an airport press release, during this period, no flights will take place, with serving carriers informed in advance and advised to not sell tickets during the closure.

Both runways were redesigned in the 1980s with a lifespan of approximately 30 years. As a result, they now require reconstruction, which the airport is gradually doing in stages for the fourth consecutive year.

While the Slovakian gateway has been able to maintain one operational runway during works in recent years, this year will see the critical intersection be attended to. As such, maintenance will be carried out in three stages:

  • From April 13 to 20, preparatory work will take place on the runway 04/22. At that time, the airport will be closed for six hours at night, which will not affect flights;
  • Stage two begins on April 21 at 1000L and will run until 1800L on May 1, and concerns the works required at the junction of the two runways;
  • The final stage takes place at the end of May, again with maintenance taking place during the night, and which will not affect flights.

"Airlines operating scheduled and non-scheduled charter flights have been informed in good time. For this reason, they do not offer any flights from Bratislava during the given 11 days,” said Jozef Pojedinec, airport Chief Executive Officer.

When referring to the ch-aviation schedules module, the airport's biggest customer, with 67% of weekly capacity, is Ryanair (FR, Dublin International). The ultra-low-cost carrier's network from the Slovakian capital city currently includes destinations in Italy, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Greece, Israel, Malta, Serbia, Cyprus and France.

The airport's second-largest serving airline is Wizz Air (W6, Budapest), which controls around 22% of weekly capacity. Other carriers serving Bratislava include Pobeda (DP, Moscow Sheremetyevo) and flydubai (FZ, Dubai International).

Vienna is the closest alternative airport located just 48 kilometres from Bratislava.