Avant Airports is planning to build an airport on the site of the former Alexeni military airfield in Ialomita county.
The project is worth 400 million euro and the goal, according to the source, is to become the largest cargo hub in Eastern Europe in the next three years. It would be the first private airport in Romania. The announcement comes a year €1 billion after the company signed a concession contract with local authorities to develop and operate the airport for 48 months.
A consortium consisting of Romanian airport services provider Avant Airports, as the project developer, and Ukrainian construction company Avtomagistral-Pivden signed the concession contract for the 198-hectare decommissioned military airfield in Alexeni in March 2024. It is located 66 km from Bucharest.
The consortium plans to build an airport worth €400 million. The airport would include a 30,000 square meter passenger terminal with an annual capacity of 6.5 million people – almost half that of Bucharest’s main airport, Henri Coandă, which had 14.6 million in 2023.
The project also foresees a 20,000 sqm cargo terminal with a transport capacity of 10,000 tons per year.
In April, Avant Airports plans to unveil the airport design. The airport will be built to accommodate all types of aircraft, including Boeing 747 cargo planes, and will have dedicated infrastructure for both cargo and low-cost airlines. A key objective of the project is accessibility, with plans to connect the airport to the center of Bucharest by rail, providing a 45-50 minute transfer time from the North Train Station, according to the source. The project is also to be included in Romania’s General Transportation Master Plan. Avant Airports said it is in advanced discussions with financial institutions and investors from the United States, Switzerland, Finland and India to secure financing for the project. A public consultation will be launched to gather information from potential users on the terminal’s facilities.