My Wizz Air flight had arrived into Bucharest Băneasa airport from Athens, which is the smaller of the two international airports in the city and one that I’ve never visited before.
I think it’s beautiful and it was immediately evident that this is an airport from the early days of international passenger travel. These are usually demolished or refurbished beyond recognition, so it was a delight to see that much of this one felt original.
This photo was taken in 1960 not too far away from where my previous one was taken. In the middle is Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, the then Leader of Romania, with Nikita Khrushchev, the President of the USSR, with his hat. And there to the left of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej is a younger, and at the time less powerful, Nicolae Ceaușescu.
The departure hall of the airport. As a quick history of this airport, it was opened to passengers in 1920 and that makes it one of the oldest airports still in use in Europe. The current terminal building dates to the late 1940s, although it didn’t open until 1952. It was the country’s main international airport until Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport opened in 1969.
In 2012, it was decided to close this airport to passengers and concentrate just on business traffic, primarily as Bucharest Henri Coandă had taken all of the trade. However, this period was a time of a surge in budget airlines, more interest in visiting Romania as a country and growing business needs, so, in 2022 it reopened as a passenger airport.
And the approach road to the airport. I hadn’t realised when I landed here just how beautiful the airport was, so I’ll have to try and ensure that I fly from, or to, this airport again so that I can explore it a little more.