 |
| 2493 Bucharest Otopeni International Airport in 1970's |
Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest international airport, and it is located in Otopeni, 16.5km north of Bucharest's city centre. It is currently one of two airports serving the capital city of Romania. It is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of Coandă-1910 aircraft and discoverer of the Coandă effect of fluidics. Until 2004, the official name was Bucharest Otopeni International Airport, which remains the name by which it is generally known.
During WWII, the airport 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 1,200m. 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 3,500m, making it one of the longest in Europe at that time.
A new passenger terminal, with a capacity of 1,200,000 passengers per year, was opened in 1970, and in 1986 it entered a new phase of development, a second 3500m runway being constructed. The lighting system was improved and the capacity was increased to 35 airport movements per hour. In 1992 a multi-stage upgrade plan was devised, which was ended in 2012. Currently was developed the plan to build a second terminal, consisting of four modules, each having a capacity of 5 million passengers / year, which would be built by 2022.
About the stamp
Prepaid postcard (the coat of arms of the Socialist Republic of Romania, 1965-1989)
References
Henri Coandă International Airport - Wikipedia
Sender: Rodica Nica
Sent from Bucharest (Romania), on 30.07.1980
Photo: D. F. Dumitru
No comments:
Post a Comment