After a pause of ten years, Bucharest’s Băneasa International Airport looks finally set to reopen for regular commercial traffic, according to the Director of the company that manages the air field, Aeroporturi București. The information was revealed by Romania’s Radio România Actualități (RRA) earlier this Wednesday.
George Dorobanțu, who leads the company that manages both of Bucharest’s major airports — Băneasa and Otopeni — says «we already have three advanced discussions in the phase of contract signing to operate in Băneasa».
According to Dorobanțu, the airlines would be Ryanair, «which searches for solutions for growing its aircraft base from Romania», Air Connect, a Romanian startup that expects to fly from Otopeni with a fleet of ATRs, and Moldova’s Fly One, this one flying charter operations to Chișinău.
Dorobanțu has asked to leave the lead of Aeroporturi Bucuresti and, from August 1st, a new management will take place in the publicly-owned company, according to RRA.
Băneasa last received regular commercial flights in March 2012, when all operations were transfered to Otopeni. Back then, three airlines — Blue Air, Germanwings and Wizz Air — served the airport, which, given its simple infrastructure, was labeled the low-cost carriers’ haven in the Romanian capital.
In a November report, State-owned news company TVR said that the airport, in this new phase, will be able to receive up to 400 passengers every hour. The adaptation works have cost about EUR11 million and were started in 2019.
Romania’s largest aviation news website, BoardingPass.ro, was more skeptical than the director, labeling his words «triumphant» and remarking that, to this day, none of the three airlines have officially announced services to Băneasa, and that sources at Air Connect denied the intention of operating there.
1/ Referitor la declarația triumfătoare făcută de directorul general demisionar al CNAB cu privire la reluarea traficului aerian pe aeroportul Aurel Vlaicu (Băneasa) din #București începând cu 1 august 2022 și apărută în spațiul public miercuri, 27 iulie 2022, e important… pic.twitter.com/KjEm05846P
— BoardingPass (@BoardingPassRO) July 27, 2022
While much smaller than its counterpart Otopeni, Băneasa remains a feasible option for passengers as it is closer to the city center. In fact, even bus line 783, the one that connects Bucharest’s Historic Center to Otopeni, stops by the airport, which is half an hour away from the capital’s downtown.
