Did you know? Bratislava's first airline flight landed at Vajnory in 1923, decades before today's airport

Bratislava's air link with the rest of Czechoslovakia began on 29 October 1923, when the first Czechoslovak Airlines flight from Prague landed at Vajnory. According to the airport's own history, the aircraft was an AERO A-14 biplane with room for a single passenger.

Vajnory did not remain the city's airport. Because the Small Carpathians limited any expansion there, construction of a new airport near Ivanka pri Dunaji began in 1947, and regular operations started at the new site in 1951, about 9 km north-east of the city centre. That airport is today's M. R. Štefánik Airport.

The first construction phase produced two perpendicular runways, 04–22 and 13–31, and both are still in use. In the 1980s they were lengthened: runway 04–22 from 1,900 m to 2,900 m and runway 13–31 from 1,500 m to 3,190 m. A separate arrivals terminal opened in 1994, the airport joined the Schengen Area in 2008 and a new departures terminal opened on 9 June 2010.

For travellers, this history explains why Bratislava has two crossing runways rather than a single long strip, and why its terminals were rebuilt in stages while the airport kept operating. Passengers flying from Bratislava today should check the current terminal and security information on the airport's website before travelling.