The first flights in the B?neasa area took place in 1909 and they were carried out by the French pilot and aviation pioneer Louis Blériot, who flew on 18 October at the B?neasa Hippodrome. In 1912, one of the first flight schools in Romania was opened at the B?neasa airfield by George Valentin Bibescu. This makes B?neasa airport the oldest continuously operating airport in Eastern Europe, and places it among the five oldest airports in the world. In 1922, the airport headquartered the first aviation company in Romania, and one of the earliest in the world, CFRNA (The French–Romanian Company for Air Navigation), the precursor of the Romanian national airline, TAROM. In 1923, CFRNA built the industrial facilities for aircraft maintenance in B?neasa. These facilities preceded the aerospace company Romaero. During World War II, the airport was used by both Romanian and German units as an aircraft repair hub and also functioned as the headquarters of the Romanian White Squadron. The airport mainly had a grass surface with a single 940 metres (3,080 ft) long concrete runway built in 1942. The current terminal building was designed in the late 1940s and opened in 1952. At that time it was considered one of the finest architectural features of Bucharest. The building consists of a central dome with three distinct wings which represents an airplane propeller with three blades. During the communist period (1947–1989), B?neasa Airport was TAROM's domestic hub, while Otopeni Airport was used as an international hub. In the early 2000s (decade), TAROM moved all of its activities to Otopeni (renamed Henri Coand? International Airport). The first low-cost airline established at BBU was Blue Air in 2004. From January 2007, the low-fare airlines Wizz Air, EasyJet, and Germanwings started European routes from B?neasa. In 2007, the airport was closed from 10 May to 19 August for renovation works. All flights during this period were moved to Henri Coand? International Airport. Renovations included commercial areas, restaurants, a VIP lounge and a 300-space car park. The runway and lighting systems were also completely overhauled. The estimated cost was €20m. In March 2012, B?neasa was dedicated to business air traffic. The last passenger air traffic was transferred to Henri Coand? International Airport on 25 March 2012. In 2017 and 2018, public talks organized by the managing company took place, suggesting that the airport may be re-opened for regular flights, following renovation works, that may be completed in two years from start. In June 2019, it was announced that the airport will reopen for commercial flights in early 2020. On 1 August 2022, the airport was re-opened after 10 years of renovation work and 110 years since it was founded. The first scheduled flight was operated on 20 April 2023, to Antalya. Interest for operating on the new airport has already been shown by airlines such as Ryanair and FlyOne, but also from domestic carriers, such as AirConnect.