Airport type Public Serves Brașov Elevation AMSL 1,740 ft / 530 m Elevation 530 m | Operator Brașov County Council Location Ghimbav, Brașov County Website aeroportbrasov.ro | |
Brașov Airport is an airport currently under construction in Ghimbav, near Brașov, Romania right by the future A3 motorway. The airport is designed to handle medium-sized aircraft with a capacity of one million people per year.
History
In 2006, the Romanian State Domain Agency transferred 110 hectares of land to Brașov County. Intelcan Canada was to develop and build the airport in coordination with Brașov, Harghita, and Covasna counties as well as Ghimbav city. The airport's charter was officially signed on 14 November 2005. Intelcan inaugurated the construction of the airport on 15 April 2008. The initial target for completion was twenty-four to thirty months. However, due to legal matters and a lack of funds, the construction works had stopped and Intelcan left the project, being replaced by the local authorities.
The Brașov County authorities finalized an agreement with a local construction company, Vectra Service, for building the runway. The contract was signed on 18 November 2012, and is worth €12.7 million (VAT excluded). Eventually, construction of the airport restarted in April 2013 with the works at the 2,820 m (9,252 ft) runway. On 3 October 2014, the runway was officially inaugurated. Planned costs of the project are estimated at €87 million.
The project is widely supported by the local population and some businesses in the area have announced plans to switch to air freight services. It is predicted that the airport will create 4,000 jobs and will reach 1 million passengers in 8 years, with a further 6,000 jobs being generated indirectly.
Negotiations are still ongoing for the construction of the main terminal building. The terminal will be built modularly, allowing future construction.