Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu stated on Thursday that he would request Transport Minister Ludovic Orban to prepare for the relocation of the low-cost traffic from the Baneasa Airport to the Otopeni Airport. After Tariceanu's statements, speculations about turning the Baneasa Airport into a real estate project emerged quickly. The 180 hectares of land that Baneasa Airport takes up are sought after by several real estate moguls in the area such as Gabriel Popoviciu, Gigi Becali and Ion Tiriac. Also Romaero, the aircraft repair company has land in the area worth a total of 221 million euros and has several projects to capitalise on its assets, by partnering with Blue Air, a low-cost company controlled by Nelu Iordache, as well as with the Phoenicia Hotel, owned by businessman Mohammad Murad.
"I asked Transport Minister to prepare the necessary steps to turn this airport into one that would service Romaero, which is an aircraft repair company, and also business flights, which therefore are done with small planes that do not cause noise pollution," Tariceanu said on Thursday.
The northern part of Bucharest has been expanding a great deal over the last few years, with the representatives on the real estate market feeling that the closing of the airport would drive up prices in the area and stimulate its development.
"The presence of the Baneasa Airport affects developers because there are certain restrictions. For instance, neither very tall nor concrete buildings may be built there. One square metre currently stands at 1,000-1,500 euros, and if the airport were to be closed, the price would go to 1,500-2,000 euros," said Laurentiu Badea, representative of Epsilon Imobiliare.
"Nothing will happen to the Baneasa Airport for the time being. It is a decision that takes three to seven years. I have about three weeks to come up with a project concerning Bucharest's development over the coming period," Ludovic Orban, Transport Minister told ZF.
The Baneasa Airport in Bucharest has seen significant growth over the last few years, with three times as much traffic compared with 2005, a level that reached one million passengers. The fast-paced development of the airport came as a result of the entry of new low-cost companies and of the development of the already existing ones. Companies like Blue Air, the largest local low-cost airline, as well as Wizz Air or MyAir use Baneasa for their flights. Blue Air, operates more than 10 flights a day with large aircraft. On the other hand, business flight companies like Tiriac Air or Eurojet would operate one or two flights a day at most, according to the latest data available.
The idea of turning Baneasa into a luxury airport was first brought up last year, because this airport is closer to the city than Otopeni. Moving from Baneasa to Otopeni, however, comes with higher costs for operators, as taxes are significantly higher.
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