Aviation in Romania
Transport in Romania |
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Companies |
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Romania has a rich tradition in aviation. At the beginning of the 20th century, pioneers such as Henri Coandă, Aurel Vlaicu, Traian Vuia and George Valentin Bibescu made important contributions to early aviation history, building revolutionary airplanes and contributing to the international scene.
In the present, the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority oversees all aviation activities.
History
Pioneers
George Valentin Bibescu was a Romanian aristocrat who became an early aviation pioneer and international figure. He flew a balloon named "Romania" brought from France in 1905. Later, he tried to teach himself how to fly a Voisin airplane, also brought from France, but without success. After Louis Blériot's demonstrative flights in Bucharest on October 18, 1909, Bibescu went to Paris and enrolled in Blériot's flying school where, in 1910, he obtained International Pilot License number 20. After returning from France, Bibescu organized the Cotroceni Piloting School in Bucharest where Mircea Zorileanu and Nicolae Capșa were licensed. On May 5, 1912, he founded the Romanian National Aeronautic League. Bibescu would later be instrumental in founding the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the international regulatory body for aeronautics. Between 1927 and 1930, he was its vice-president, becoming president in 1930 and remaining so until 1941.
Traian Vuia was a Romanian inventor and aviation pioneer. He constructed his first powered, fixed wing aircraft with wheeled undercarriage, and in 1906 he flew short hops in it at Montesson near Paris, France. On March 18, he flew about 12 metres at a height of 1 foot, and on 19 August he flew for 24 metres.[1][2][3] Although unsuccessful at true flight, Vuia's aircraft has been credited as "the first man-carrying monoplane of basically modern configuration" and influenced the more successful Brazilian pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont.[4][5] Vuia went on to experiment with another monoplane and two helicopters but none was successful.
Early military aviation
The
The
After World War I, the Air Corps again saw action in the 1919 campaign to secure Transylvania from Hungary. By then, the Air Corps was in a sorry state; but following the collapse of the Hungarian communist regime the Air Corps gained 150 captured aircraft. From then on, the air arm grew steadily, being reorganized in 1924 into the Aeronautica Regală Română (Romanian Royal Aeronautics). Further aircraft were acquired from France, and licensed production was set up at various centres. By the early 1930s, Romanian aviation began producing more native designs and types such as the
As
World War II
Following the outbreak of war and the German invasion of Poland, over 100 surviving aircraft of the Polish Air Force joined the FARR. However the increasing aggressiveness of the Axis powers forced Romania to join them. Through 1940 and 1941, the German presence and influence grew strongly.
In June 1941, with the FARR operational strength at 504 aircraft, Romania joined Germany in the attack on the Soviet Union and the FARR was committed heavily in support. In March 1942, deliveries of the
On 20 August 1944, the Soviets invaded Romania. Following a brief period of confusion, Romania changed sides and, once more allied with the Soviet Union, turned against its German occupiers. Although by now possessing less than 200 operational aircraft, the FARR joined in the attack on German forces. Despite chaotic conditions, exacerbated by the Soviet demand for Romanian mechanics to maintain their aircraft, IAR continued a low level of manufacture and the FARR began to rebuild its strength. Then, in 1945, operations over Slovakia and against German and Hungarian forces reduced its strength once again, having just 10 operational combat squadrons remaining by the end of the War.[7]
Postwar
In 1947, Romania became a republic and its air arm changed its name to the Forțele Aeriene ale Republicii Populare România, the Air Forces of the Romanian People's Republic or FR-RPR. From 1948, greater cooperation with Soviet forces began with the introduction of the Yakovlev Yak-11 trainer, and the ageing combat fleet was progressively supplemented and replaced by more modern Soviet types.
The first jet fighter arrived in the 1950s, in the form of the
1966 saw yet another name change accompanying Romania's establishment of a Socialist Republic, to the Forțele Aeriene ale Republicii Socialiste România – the Air Forces of the Romanian Socialist Republic or FR-RSR. The new FR-RSR went on to maintain and modernize its fleet, including the introduction of a variety of Mil helicopters, some of them Polish-built.[7]
In the 1970s, Romania began once more to develop its own military aircraft including a joint Yugoslav-Romanian attack aircraft built in Romania as the
Astronautics
Dumitru Prunariu is the only Romanian astronaut who participated in a space mission (Soyuz 40 – May 14, 1981).
Romanian air transport operators
Flag carrier
Name | Hubs | Notes |
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TAROM | Henri Coandă International Airport
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The state-owned Romanian operator |
Active Romanian carriers
Name | Hubs | Notes |
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Air Bucharest | Henri Coandă International Airport
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AirConnect | Planned to start operations in 2023[11] | |
Animawings | Henri Coandă International Airport | |
Blue Air | Henri Coandă International Airport | Suspended operations in 2022 |
Carpatair | Traian Vuia International Airport
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Dan Air | Henri Coandă International Airport | Former Just Us Air |
Fly Lili | Planned to start operations[12] | |
Legend Airlines | Planned to start operations[13] | |
Regional Air Services | Tuzla Aerodrome | Air taxi carrier |
Romcargo Airlines | Air cargo carrier | |
Star East Airline | Băneasa International Airport
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Țiriac Air | Henri Coandă International Airport | Corporate jet carrier
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Former Romanian carriers
- Acvila Air
- Alfa Air Services[14]
- Angel Airlines
- Dac Air
- Jaro International
- Jetran Air
- LAR Romanian Airlines
- Romavia
Airports in Romania
Romania has a well-developed airport infrastructure compared to other countries in
In 2011, air traffic reached 10.7 million passengers, 5.1% more than the previous year when there were 10.2 million people flying by plane.[15][16]
Manufacturing
The industrial facilities for aircraft building and maintenance are located in
).Future development
This section needs to be updated.(January 2014) |
Following the ascending curve of the economy growth, the air transportation in Romania experiences a favorable trend. Carpatair is the Romanian airline with the most spectacular growth; the national carrier TAROM is recovering from a difficult period at the beginning of the 2000s, 2004 being the first profitable year in the last 10 years, but with a price: the cancellation of the long-haul flights to New York, Chicago, Montreal and Beijing. In 2006 the company started a fleet update program with the acquisition of 4 new Airbus A318 airplanes, 2 new ATR 72 turboprops in 2009 and two new Boeing 737-800 NG in 2017. The first Romanian low-cost airline, Blue Air, is going through a development phase, while other low-cost airlines are ready to start their operations.
There are many investment projects also in airport infrastructure: the upgrading of the existing airports (major rehabilitation programs for OTP, TSR, CLJ, CND, the airports with the most significant traffic growth) and the construction of three new airports in Brașov, Galați – Brăila (a 600,000 inhabitants urban area without airport access) and Deva – Alba Iulia (Southern Transylvania).
Currently (dec. 2006) the most advanced project is the construction of the new
Cultural significance
National Aviation Day is celebrated on 17 June, the anniversary of Aurel Vlaicu's first flight.[7]
Early pioneer aircraft have appeared on postage stamps, and Vlaicu on a bank note.
See also
- Transport in Romania
- Romanian Space Agency
- Science and technology in Romania
- Romanian air tours over Africa
References
Notes
- ^ Traian I. Vuia at earlyaviators.com
- ^ "Nouveaux essais de l'Aéroplane Vuia", L'Aérophile v.14 1906, pp. 105–106, April 1906
- ^ "L'Aéroplane à moteur de M. Vuia", L'Aérophile v.14 1906, pp. 195–196, September 1906
- ^ Gibbs-Smith, Charles Harvard (3 April 1959)."Hops and Flights" Flight. p. 469
- Romanian Academy Library. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Personalități românești ale științelor naturii și tehnicii, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1982, p.408
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Green and Swanborough (1971).
- ISBN 978-973-645-853-8.
- ^ Mihail Orzeță; Valeriu Avram (2018). Romanian Aviation in the First World War (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ Valeriu Avram (2013). "Din Istoria Aripilor Românești 1910-1916" (PDF). Buletinul Arhivelor Militare Române (in Romanian). No. 61/2013. pp. 2–17.
- ^ "Air Connect". airlinehistory.co.uk. 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Fly Lili". airlinehistory.co.uk. 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Legend Airlines". airlinehistory.co.uk. 24 September 2022.
- ^ "Alfa Air Services". airlinehistory.co.uk. 9 July 2018.
- ^ European airport passengers up 7% in 2011 to over 1.6 billion at anna.aero
- ^ Romania: Air traffic to grow by 5 percent in 2011, up to 10.7 million passengers[permanent dead link] at aviationnews.us
Bibliography
- Green, W. and Swanborough, G. (ed.); "Oil Well Top Cover – Sixty Years of Rumanian Military Aviation", Air Enthusiast Vol.1 No.1 (June 1971) Pages 25–35, 43.