History

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Graz Airport 1914 - 1944	Graz Airport 1944 - 1974	Graz Airport 1974 - 2004

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1913
Work at the then Royal and Imperial Airfield begins; hangars and a grass airfield are built.
1914
On June 26th, 1914, the first airplane takes off from Graz Airport.
1920
The installations of Thalerhof airport are turned over to the Office of the Styrian Provincial Government. Military and civil aviation are forbidden, so people turn to flying gliders.
1922
The airport is passed over to the administrative authorities of the Republic of Austria.
 

1925 The first domestic aviation network is established – from Vienna, via Graz to Klagenfurt.

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1930
Graz is integrated into the radio network and a direction finding transmitter is set up.
1937
Ongoing improvement in navigation and radio technology leads to a sharp increase in the number of air passengers, and construction of an airport building starts.
1945
Soviet troops reach the airport on May 9th, 1945; later, it is occupied by the British. The end of the war marks the absolute low point in the airport's history. Civil and military aviation in Austria is forbidden except for the occupying powers.
1947
The Office of Civil Aviation is set up and Graz Airport returns to Austrian administrative control.
1951
On June 23rd, 1951 Graz Airport resumes international flight operations. The necessary permission is obtained from the British occupying power.
1955
The departure of the occupying forces signifies the restoration of Austrian sovereignty over its air space. The enormous increase in air traffic together with the ongoing modernisation in technology calls for a thorough overhaul of the airport. Work begins on an extended, 1,500 m long concrete runway and modern lighting system – at the time a pioneering achievement in Austria.

1962 Passenger numbers rise to 1,000.

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1963
Graz Airport is included in the domestic flight network of Austrian Airlines. The Vienna-Graz-Klagenfurt connection is so successful that the number of passengers is doubled by 1964.

1966 The airport is integrated into the international aviation network with the inauguration of the Graz-Linz-Frankfurt route.

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1969
Graz Airport is once again expanded and modernised. A new terminal building is established and the runway extended to 2,500 m. More than 40,000 passengers are handled.
1981
Another memorable moment in the history of Graz Airport: A British Airways Concorde lands at Graz Airport on March 29th, 1981.

1983 A category IIIa/b precision Instrument Landing System (ILS) is installed requiring only 200 m horizontal and 15 m vertical visibility. Consequently, the number of flight cancellations for aircraft fitted out with the appropriate system drops to virtually zero.

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1984
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Graz Airport, more than 100,000 visitors attend a major air show. The highlight of the festivities is the first “Jumbo” (a B-747 of German Lufthansa) landing at Graz Airport.

1994 After two years of building work, the new terminal building is officially opened. Celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the airport and the opening of the enlarged and extended passenger terminal culminate on October 29th in an international air show attended by more than 120,000 visitors.

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2000
Passenger numbers increase to more than 750,000 passengers!
2001
The new cargo building is inaugurated and the apron expanded towards the north.

2002 The new tower is opened in October.

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2003
The new General Aviation Center is opened. In the same year, the most ambitious building project starts: the expansion of the passenger terminal to twice its former capacity.
On November 27th, 2003, the 800,000th passenger is welcomed at Graz Airport.
2004
May 28th beats all records: More than 6,000 passengers are counted on this day. The airport celebrates its 90th anniversary and handles as many as 900,000 passengers this year.

2005 On March 22nd, the new departure hall is opened to the public.

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