Bucharest Henri Coandǎ International Airport Aeroportul Internațional Henri Coandă București |
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||||||
Operator | The National Company "Bucharest Airports" S.A. | ||||||||||||||
Serves | Bucharest, Romania | ||||||||||||||
Location | Otopeni | ||||||||||||||
Hub for | |||||||||||||||
Focus city for | |||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 314 ft / 96 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 44°34′16″N 026°05′06″E / 44.57111°N 26.08500°ECoordinates: 44°34′16″N 026°05′06″E / 44.57111°N 26.08500°E | ||||||||||||||
Website | bucharestairports.ro | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
Location within Romania | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Helipads | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2016) | |||||||||||||||
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Sources: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL, bucharestairports.ro
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Passengers | 10,982,967 |
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Passengers change 2016–15 | 18.3% |
Aircraft movements | 108,200 |
Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (Romanian: Aeroportul Internațional Henri Coandă București) (IATA: OTP, ICAO: LROP) is Romania's busiest international airport, located in Otopeni, 16.5 km (10.3 mi) north of Bucharest's city centre. It is currently one of two airports serving the capital of Romania. The other is Aurel Vlaicu Airport, which no longer serves scheduled passenger traffic.
The airport is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of Coandă-1910 aircraft and discoverer of the Coandă effect of fluidics. Until May 2004, the official name was Bucharest Otopeni International Airport (Romanian: Aeroportul Internațional București Otopeni), which remains the name by which it is generally known.
Henri Coandă International Airport serves as headquarters for TAROM, the country's national airline. It also serves as a base of operations for low-cost airlines Blue Air, Ryanair and Wizz Air. It is managed by The National Company Bucharest Airports S.A. (Compania Națională Aeroporturi București S.A.). The military section of the airport is used by the 90th Airlift Flotilla of the Romanian Air Force.
During World War II, the airport in Otopeni was used as an airbase by the German air force. Up to 1965, it was restricted for military use and was one of the major bases of the Romanian Air Force, with a runway of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). Băneasa Airport was the only airport that Bucharest used for commercial flights. In 1965, with the growth of air traffic, a new commercial airport was constructed in the settlement of Otopeni, where the military air base used to be. The runway was modernised and extended up to 3,500 metres (11,500 ft), making it one of the longest in Europe at that time.