Military base During
World War II, a landing ground was set up on the outskirts of Alexeni for the German
Luftwaffe fighter units which were intercepting
Allied bombing raids targeting
Bucharest and
Ploiești. After the war, the area was determined to be suitable for fast military interventions and exercises as it was located close to the capital. Under the supervision of General Nicolae Fulga, an airfield was built at Alexeni with the construction being finished in 1954. In 1958, the 227th Jet Aviation Regiment (
Regimentul 227 Aviație Reactivă) equipped with
MiG-15s was moved to the base. In 1960, the Regiment changed its name to the 49th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (
Regimentul 49 Aviație Vânătoare-Bombardament) and remained deployed to Alexeni until 1965 when it was transferred to the
Ianca airfield. On 16 June 1968, the
Romanian Air Force organized an important
air show at
Băneasa. For this show, 32
MiG-21s and MiG-15s were brought to Alexeni. After the air show, more fighters were stationed at Alexeni in preparation for the 23 August parade. With the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the jet fighters stationed at Alexeni received the task of defending the capital in case of attack. After 23 August, the fighters returned to their bases. In July 1975, the airfield hosted a parade and a military equipment presentation during which the
IAR-93 Vultur was officially unveiled in the presence of
Nicolae Ceaușescu. However, some analysts considered the project unrealistic and doomed to fail due to the poor conditions of the infrastructure in the area. AllBucharest's low-cost flights were moved to
Henri Coandă International Airport in March 2012. Ialomița County Council, which is the airfield's owner since 2017, launched the auction for the airport concession in August/September 2022, three potential investors expressed their interest, but no one submitted the tender offer at the end of the legal period. The authorities expect the value of the investment needed at cca. €150 mil. The airport concession bid was announced again in December 2022, with eight potential investors who expressed interest. In 2024, the airport has been officially leased to a Romanian-Ukrainian joint-venture for a period of 49 years. The operator assumed the obligation to invest €400 mil and to open the airport in 2028. It will be the first private operational airport in Romania and the first energetically independent airport in the world. The Romanian company Avant Airports confirmed that it will develop Alexeni into the largest cargo hub in
Eastern Europe together with the Ukrainian
Automagistral-Pivden company. The airport is to accommodate all types of aircraft and will include a
passenger terminal as well as a cargo terminal. Other planned constructions for the future airport include a
photovoltaic park, an
aviation school, a
train station, a hotel and recreational areas. ==See also==