Bucharest will not be getting a new airport anytime soon, according to this report published by a local news agency yesterday.
While news that the Romanian government had cancelled yet another major infrastructure project came as no surprise at all (last week the government was embarrassed into admitting that a major deal to build part of the badly-needed motorway from Bucharest-Brasov had fallen through), the news that the government had even been thinking of building another airport to serve Bucharest did come as a bit of a shock.
For a start, Bucharest does not do all that badly on the airport front.
There are currently two airports serving the city, Otopeni and Baneasa.
Happy holidaymakers returning home to Bucharest's Baneasa Airport
Now, while we will happily declare that we consider Baneasa to be one of Europe’s worst airports, it does have the advantage of being just minutes (traffic allowing, of course) from the city centre.
Otopeni on the other hand – though it is further away from central Bucharest – is a first class airport. Small (though it is currently being extended to allow for a Schengen-only departure and arrivals terminal should Romania be admitted to the Schengen-zone next year) it boasts two runways and one of the most enviable punctuality records in Europe.
Of course, everything costs a fortune – from coffee to taxis – and a Tourist Information Office would help first-time visitors, but if you take Otopeni for what it is: an airport, as in a place that should facilitate the transit of as many people as it can in as short a time as possible, then Otopeni is a terrific airport.
(Oh, and a proper train link to the city would not go a miss, and, as we have pointed out before, could be done very easily at little cost).
Otopeni could well be improved, Baneasa could be greatly improved, but does Bucharest really need another airport? No: not as a priority, anyhow.
Brasov, on the other hand, if it ever wants to become one of the great European travel destinations, does. To even have considered building a new airport to serve the capital while Brasov continues to do without was just plain daft.
Indeed, if asked what one thing Romania should to do to boost incoming tourism, our answer is the same now as it has been for years: build an airport in Brasov.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Sory that”s Dej not Groza
The picture shows Petre Broza and Hruschchev in the late 50s I think. Is at Baneasa Airport
Why are they called holiday makers ?
Communists need holidays too.
A little anecdote to illustrate possible confusion with the old/new airport names: I got a very panicked text message from my sister the other day, who was coming to visit me: “OMG, they just announced we’ve landed on Henri Coanda Airport!!! Where is this?? Can you come and pick me up there???” (quote). Obviously, I had only mentioned Otopeni airport, and the ticket mentioned the OTP-code as well. But the airline staff used the ‘correct’ name. So confusion erupted everywhere!
It doesn’t matter what they call the airport, what matters is making sure a name change is promoted properly. Changing the name of an airport or a brand or a well known institution could be a good way to re-launch something, to present an old thing in a new way. But you have to invest big money in the process; i.e. millions and millions of Euro; you need to tell people the name is changed and pump out “name recognition” messages for year — all of which can fit a clever marketing strategy. But here there is none of that and it is totally pointless exercise, indeed confusing. Each govt does the same thing when it changes the names of its ministries — incurring loads of costs of changing all the letterheads and cards and plates and legal documents. The lesson is; don’t change the name unless you’ve got big bucks to burn.
They are building an airport in Brasov. Based on the length of time it has taken (so far) the Brasov-Oradea motorway to be built, I’m guessing Brasov airport will open for business in about 2050. But I understand work has started (by which I suspect they mean a bloke has wandered round a bit of land for an hour eating sunflower seeds)
And given that this day will probably not come in my lifetime, I am very glad that Otopeni will remain open. It has the massive advantage (from my perspective) of being on the road to Brasov, and hence does not involve actually going to Bucharest to get to and from it.
I hear that step two of the construction of Brasov Airport will be a man going round picking up the seeds left by the first man.
And guzzling from a 2 litre bottle of Bucegi lager!
When you buy a ticket to Bucharest what is the airport code? OTP.Not HCO.
Indeed. Changing the codes is all but impossible.
For your information Baneasa is called now Aurel Vlaicu and Otopeni is called now Henri Coanda. If you knew something you would know these men as great aviating champions and would respect them as they deserve.
Nobody calls them that.
I really hope you are serious because that would make you a very funny and ridiculous man
Henri Coanda indeed. I am well aware of who he was and his contribution to aviation. A ‘champion’ indeed.
But that does not change the fact that nobody on earth refers to Otopeni Airport as Henri Coanda Airport. Nobody.
(Except perhaps the kind of people who insist on translating their addresses on their business cards, you know, writing ‘Piata Victoriei 2′ as ’2 Victory Square’).
Are you one of those people?
Still unacceptable.
Hm… I’d hate to be the one who has to translate street names… Strada Irimicului anyone?
)
(I’m easily amused)
Pollard Street?
I confess to not having the faintest idea what an irimic might be, but I’ll take your word for it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Coand%C4%83_International_Airport
See Bucharest Life passim for our views on the validity of Wikipedia.
Must do better. Or just give up.
Ha Ha (Nelson pointing):
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/flights-to-bucharest/public/en_gb
“nobody on earth refers to Otopeni Airport as Henri Coanda Airport. Nobody.”
There is value in having strong opinions, and there is hubris.
Excellent, you’re serious.
Tudor, you must know as well as anyone that no person who lives in or visits Bucharest on any sort of regular basis uses either of those official names. So who cares what the BA office junior calls them?
Anyway, the really good bit here is not what the airports are called or the validity of Wikipedia. It’s Alex Alin’s insecure nationalism bursting out in a rant about airport names.
The stuff with the names is debatable. Yes, people that used for a long time a name for something will keep using it for some time more. There are all sorts of examples in Bucharest: Armata Poporului vs Lujerului, 1 Mai, etc. But using them assumes that your interlocutor is part of the “in people”. You will use the “official” name when addressing a bigger audience (unless you just want to show you’re part of the “in people”). This is not specific to Bucharest, for example the main Paris airport Charles de Gaulle is called “familiarly” Roissy (=their “Otopeni”), but still I want to know just about Charles de Gaulle because this is what is written on my ticket, this is in all the official maps and co.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t regard calling some airports Vlaicu or Coanda as being a sign of respect or disrespect or patriotism or whatever. I just see a practical reason in at least mentioning the official names. And I hate when people use “never, nobody does…” to make a point. There is always somebody who does it, you just have to know enough people.
Well I will happily say it again: nobody ever uses the names Henri Coanda or Aurel Vlaicu.
Thanks for the article Craig.
Also, thanks all for the mildly/very amusing debate.
For the record, and because you asked…I refer to the two shining beacons of modern aviation based in Bucharest as a)Hell and b)the nice one. I’ll let you all decide which statement best suites each airport.
Naming airports after people is a silly exercise anyway. Why airports, and not bus or train stations? It’s just a transport hub. Using people’s names is just confusing as the old or city name always will remain used as well.
The airport in Albania was known for years as Rinia after the munucipality, then was renamed Mother Teresa Airport, yet is known often as Tirana International Airport, which seems to be the official name. So there are three names floating around now instead of one (luckily the country only has one airport). Stick to the historical or the city name, use heroes for streets and libraries.
Look, there’s Khruschev and Ceausescu and the guy next to Khruschev must be Gheorghiu-Dej. And the guy between Khruschev and Dej could be Alexey Kosygin
Marvelous times :X
Yes, they all went to Benidorm apparently.