Departure
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MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (LROP), sited at Otopeni just north of the Romanian capital, is Romania's busiest airport and the country's principal international gateway. It offers two long parallel hard-surfaced runways with full ILS coverage, making it a straightforward if busy destination for airline-style operations rather than a typical light-aircraft field. The airport traces its origins to a military and training airfield that saw extensive wartime use before its post-war transformation into a major civil hub.
Henri Coandă International Airport lies at Otopeni, a short distance north of central Bucharest, and is Romania's busiest and largest airport. It is named after the Romanian aviation pioneer Henri Coandă (1886-1972), designer of the Coandă-1910 aircraft and discoverer of the Coandă effect. The field serves as the headquarters of national carrier TAROM and as an operating base for several other airlines, and it retains a military section used by the Romanian Air Force. For a simulator pilot it is of interest chiefly as a major international hub with two very long parallel runways and full precision approach equipment, offering a contrast to the smaller general-aviation fields typical of VFR flying.
The airport sits at Otopeni in Ilfov County, about 16.5 km north of Bucharest's city centre, and is one of two airports serving the Romanian capital, the other being the smaller Aurel Vlaicu (Băneasa) Airport within the city itself. As Romania's principal international airport it lies within controlled airspace commensurate with a major hub, and pilots should expect to operate under full ATC control throughout the terminal environment.
The airport has two parallel physical runways, both hard-surfaced and lit, each equipped with ILS. The first pair, 08R/26L, is 11,461 feet long; the second, 08L/26R, is 11,454 feet long. Both runways are of a length and standard typical of a major international hub rather than a general-aviation field, reflecting the airport's role as Romania's busiest.
Air traffic services are provided on the following frequencies: Bucuresti Approach on 118.25 MHz, Otopeni ATIS on 118.5 MHz, Otopeni Ground on 121.7 MHz, and Otopeni Tower on 120.9 MHz. Both runways are fitted with ILS, providing precision instrument approach guidance to either end of the two parallel strips.
The site at Otopeni was originally intended as a Romanian civil aviation and military training centre. During the Second World War it was used as a Luftwaffe airbase and was further developed in 1943, becoming one of the principal Luftwaffe bases around Bucharest; by 1944 it featured a beam approach system and two concrete runways, one 1,370 metres long aligned north-south and one 1,190 metres long aligned east-west. After 23 August 1944 the airport was used to launch air raids on Bucharest in support of German efforts to overthrow the new Romanian government, before being bombed by the USAAF on 26 August and taken over by the Romanian military. Until 1965 it remained a major Romanian Air Force airfield, with Băneasa serving as Bucharest's commercial airport. In 1965 the growing volume of air traffic prompted conversion of the Otopeni airbase to commercial use, with the runway modernised and extended to 3,500 metres, making it among the longest in Europe at the time. A VIP lounge was inaugurated in August 1969 during a visit by US President Richard Nixon, and a new passenger terminal designed by architect Cezar Lăzărescu opened on 13 April 1970. A second runway was added in 1986, and the airport became a regular member of Airports Council International in 1992. The airport was renamed in honour of Henri Coandă in May 2004, having previously been known as Bucharest Otopeni International Airport.
Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest airport and serves as the headquarters of national carrier TAROM. It also functions as an operating base for FlyOne, HiSky, Ryanair and Wizz Air, and low-cost and international traffic has been concentrated here since business air traffic was transferred from Aurel Vlaicu Airport in March 2012. A military section of the field continues to operate as the 90th Airlift Base of the Romanian Air Force.
