George Enescu International Airport

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.

Bacău "George Enescu" International Airport

Aeroportul Internaţional George Enescu Bacău
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorBacău County Council, Bacău Local Council
ServesBacău, Romania
Opened1946
Focus city forWizz Air
Elevation AMSL607 ft / 185 m
Coordinates46°31′19″N 026°54′37″E
Websitewww.bacauairport.ro
Map
BCM is located in Romania
BCM
BCM
Location of airport in Romania
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]

History

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. 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 with a processing capacity of 300 passengers per hour, 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 was inaugurated.[8]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Bacău Airport:[9]

AirlinesDestinations
AeroItalia Rome–Fiumicino[10]
HiSky Seasonal charter: Antalya[9]
Wizz Air London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa

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.[11]

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%

See also

References
  1. EAD Basic
  2. European Airport Traffic Trends at anna.aero
  3. "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 (in Romanian)
  5. "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. Bacau International Airport official schedule, bacauairport.ro. Retrieved on 14 August 2022.
  10. https://boardingpass.ro/aeroitalia-s-a-razgandit-roma-bucuresti-si-bacau-din-iunie-2023/
  11. "Romania - Air Force". Scramble (NL).
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