Funding for the Braşov airport might be unlocked by the end of the month

The project for the Brasov - Ghimbav International Airport, has reached the final stage of the process for securing funding. The president of the Braşov County Council, Aristotel Căncescu, says that he was in London two weeks ago, where he had talks with the project"s financial advisers.

"We were promised by our financial consultants that the credit line for the airport will be unlocked by the end of March. We still have some minor details to solve with BCR (Romanian Commercial Bank), because the gearing of the County Council only allows it to take on an additional 14 million Euros loan, instead of the 16 million, that we requested. But this can be solved. Anyway, we have told them in London that no local administration ever went bankrupt in Romania, so there everything is in order", Aristotel Căncescu said.

The head of the County Council also said that this project has the backing of the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Constantin Niţă. "We don"t really need backing in the true meaning of the word, but rather we need to know they won"t get in our way", Aristotel Căncescu added.

Radu Berceanu, the Minister of Transportation, was asked whether he would back the project of the Braşov airport. He says that from his point of view, as a minister, and as a pilot, a new airport is something to be happy about. "But when we"re talking money from the Government or the Ministry, I can"t make this decision without doing a cost-benefit analysis. We are absolutely convinced that Braşov needs an airport, but I do believe that the size of the project has to be given some consideration. The issue here is at what size the airport is viable. One alternative that we were considering had a landing strip of 1300 to 1600 meters in length. And I also believe that the Braşov airport should be created for ATR 72 airplanes, which has 40 seats", Radu Berceanu, said, adding that a bigger airport is not needed, especially as a highway will be built between Bucharest and Braşov.