Bucharest’s Baneasa To Become Urban Airport In Up To Ten Years – Min

"Probably in some five-seven years, ten at most, depending on how fast Bucharest develops, the Baneasa airport will be available only to small, private and charter planes and large planes will be banned there," Orban said.

 

The minister explained the capital city’s northern area is developing following land restitutions and newly approved urban planning.

 

Airport manager Stefan Mladin agreed with Orban, saying the trend is apparent and clearly in the future Baneasa will become an urban airport.

 

"Any respectable European capital has such airports, for example, London City in the center of London, some 6.5 kilometers from Buckingham Palace. This airport numbered some three million passengers last year, ranking first in Europe. That’s what we’re heading toward. Bucharest will need an urban airport and Baneasa will have such a future, considering more and more business people travel to Romania on smaller planes, of up to 80 seats. We had 3,500 such flights last year,” Mladin said.