George Enescu International Airport

George Enescu
International Airport

Aeroportul Internaţional George Enescu
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorBacău County Council, Bacău Local Council
ServesBacău, Romania
Opened1946
Hub forDan Air
Elevation AMSL607 ft / 185 m
Coordinates46°31′19″N 026°54′37″E / 46.52194°N 26.91028°E / 46.52194; 26.91028 (Bacău "George Enescu" International Airport)
Websitewww.bacauairport.ro
Map
BCM is located in Romania
BCM
BCM
Location of airport in Romania
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
16/34 2,500 8,203 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers468,455
Passengers change (2018–2019)Increase 4.7%
Aircraft movements (2017)4,850
Source: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL,[1] Passenger statistics,[2][3] airportaar.ro[4]

George Enescu International Airport (IATA: BCM, ICAO: LRBC) is an airport located in Bacău, Romania. Named after the Romanian composer George Enescu the airport shares its runway with RoAF 95th Air Base, and Aerostar, a major Romanian aerospace and defence company. The airport is located 5 km (3.1 mi) south[1] of the city centre of Bacău.

History

Foundation and early years

Bacău Airport opened for passenger service in 1946. A modern terminal building with a control tower began construction in 1970, and was completed in 1971.[5] In 1975, it received international status.

Development since the 2000s

A 2005 renovation/expansion remodeled the terminal building. In 2018, a new terminal was opened and the old one demolished.

In 2009, Bacău Airport became the first Romanian airport to be privately administered by a nongovernmental company. BlueAero, its administrator, was 100% owned by the fully private airline Blue Air. The new company that took over the airport is nowadays the main operator. Other airlines that operated here were TAROM, which withdraw its flights, and Carpatair, which canceled all its scheduled flights. When Blue Air was sold because its parent company's holding went into bankruptcy, the airport was returned to the local government administration. The modernization promised in the takeover contract was completed to a less than 10% status due to financial problems in the holding. Since June 2021, TAROM had been operating flights from the airport again, starting with the charter flight to Antalya, Turkey, with direct flights to several major Romanian cities planned to be introduced at a later date.[6]

In February 2014, the new owners, a 50-50 joint venture between the city and county public administrations, started a new modernization program.[5] The project involved the construction of a passenger terminal, a control tower, a parking area, and an intermodal bus terminal, as well as the refurbishment of the runway.[7] In November 2017, the new passenger terminal, with a processing capacity of 450 pax/hour and four boarding gates, was inaugurated.[8][9]

Military usage

Main article: RoAF 95th Air Base

The airport is home to the Romanian Air Force 95th Air Base, home of the 951st Advanced Air Training Squadron, operating the IAR 99 Șoim, and of the 952nd Helicopter Squadron, operating IAR 330L and IAR 330 SOCAT.[10]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Bacău Airport:[11]

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroitalia Bergamo (resumes 1 April 2025),[12] Rome-Fiumicino (resumes 31 March 2025)[13]
Dan Air Barcelona,[14] Beauvais,[15] Bergamo,[16][17] Bologna,[18][17] Brussels,[19] Dortmund,[20] Dublin,[19] Liverpool,[19] London–Luton,[19] Rome–Fiumicino,[19] Turin[19]
Seasonal: Madrid[19]
Sky Express Seasonal charter: Heraklion[21]
Wizz Air London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino[22]

Statistics

Traffic figures

Annual passenger traffic at BCM airport. See Wikidata query.
Year Passengers[2][3] Change
2003 21,020 Increase 66.2%
2004 27,574 Increase 31.2%
2005 36,261 Increase 31.5%
2006 40,601 Increase 12%
2007 112,854 Increase 178%
2008 116,492 Increase 3.2%
2009 195,772 Increase 68%
2010 240,735 Increase 23%
2011 336,961 Increase 40%
2012 393,352 Increase 16.7%
2013 307,488 Decrease 21.8%
2014 313,376 Increase 1.9%
2015 364,492 Increase 16.3%
2016 414,676 Increase 13.8%
2017 425,733 Increase 2.7%
2018 447,531 Increase 5.1%
2019 468,455 Increase 4.7%
2020 123,019 Decrease 73.7%
2021 379,947 Increase 208.8%
2022 556,327 Increase 46.4%

See also

References

  1. ^ a b EAD Basic
  2. ^ a b European Airport Traffic Trends at anna.aero
  3. ^ a b "Aeroportul din Bacău a înregistrat o creștere de 14% a numărului de pasageri, anul trecut". zdbc.ro. 12 January 2017.
  4. ^ Traficul total de pasageri pe Aeroporturile din România pe anul 2018 Archived 2020-10-27 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
  5. ^ a b "Bacău Airport Project" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  6. ^ "TAROM se întoarce pe Aeroportul Bacău. Pentru început, zboruri charter cu destinația Turcia". zdbc.ro (in Romanian). 10 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  7. ^ Contract de proiectare pentru modernizări la aeroportului din Bacău at zf.ro (in Romanian)
  8. ^ Noul terminal al Aeroportului Bacău a fost deschis pentru pasageri (in Romanian)
  9. ^ "Noul terminal al Aeroportului Internațional Bacău a fost inaugurat în noiembrie 2017". Uti Grup (in Romanian). 24 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Romania - Air Force". Scramble (NL).
  11. ^ Bacau International Airport official schedule, bacauairport.ro. Retrieved on 14 August 2022.
  12. ^ https://www.aeroitalia.com/en/destinations
  13. ^ https://www.aeroitalia.com/en/destinations
  14. ^ "Dan Air 1Q24 Operation Changes – 01FEB24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Dan Air: Zboruri din Bacău spre Paris și Dortmund din decembrie 2024". 20 May 2024.
  16. ^ https://danair.ro/ [bare URL]
  17. ^ a b "Dan Air NS24 Operation Changes – 24NOV23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  18. ^ https://danair.ro/ [bare URL]
  19. ^ a b c d e f g "Dan Air: 13 rute de la Bacău cu debut în noiembrie și decembrie 2023". November 2023.
  20. ^ "Dan Air: Zboruri din Bacău spre Paris și Dortmund din decembrie 2024". 20 May 2024.
  21. ^ "SKY EXPRESS NS24 SCHEDULED CHARTER NETWORK ADDITIONS".
  22. ^ "Wizz Air reia zborurile dintre Roma și Bacău în octombrie 2024". 2 July 2024.

Media related to George Enescu International Airport at Wikimedia Commons