The second edition of the SMART AIRPORT CITIES conference took place in Ghimbav on Europe Day

On May 9, 2022, the second edition of the SMART AIRPORT CITIES international conference took place in Ghimbav. An event organized by Ghimbav Town Hall and Municipal Council in partnership with European Events and Festivals and Smart City Brașov.

Around 200 guests, representatives of local authorities, diplomatic and business environment, as well as aviation industry specialists, airport industry experts and smart city experts, tourism experts from all over Europe took part in the debates of this conference. This aimed to promote the sustainable development of airport cities in Romania and the surrounding regions.

The main topic of conversation this year was the future Brașov Ghimbav International Airport (AIBG), more specifically the regional development opportunities offered by this project, which is on a straight line and is scheduled to be inaugurated by the end of 2022.

Notable guests included the Swiss Ambassador to Romania, Arthur Mattli, the German Consul in Sibiu, Ursula Kerstin Jahn, the Honorary Consul of Austria in Sibiu, Andreas Huber, the Honorary Consul of France in Brasov, Ion Ciolacu, the Honorary Consul of Poland in Brașov , Janusz Szalinski, the President of Brașov County Council Adrian Veștea and the Mayor of Brașov Allen Coliban.

“Ghimbavul has developed into a real magnet city and my goal as mayor is to further develop Ghimbavul economically, culturally and touristically and thus to be attractive for investors and to offer the citizens an extremely high quality of life.

With conviction and determination, we are developing Ghimbavul into a real Smart Airport City in which the focus is on people.

Airports are connecting points and create bridges between states, businesses and people and I am pleased to have a strong and solid connecting point in Ghimbav this year to promote existing bridges and create new bridges of cooperation and friendship,” said Ionel Fliundra, Mayor by Ghimbav and organizer of the event in his opening speech.

He mentioned one of the investments that will be developed as a result of the construction of Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport, namely the future project of Ghimbav Exhibition and Congress Center, which will be located in the immediate vicinity of the airport and will become a major attraction for tourists and investors alike .

“I am happy that after two years of pandemic I was able to organize the second edition of the Smart Airport Cities conference in Ghimbav, exactly on Europe Day, May 9th and so I sent a strong European message from Ghimbav and the Brașov metropolitan area.

Through partnerships with bilateral Chambers of Commerce in Romania such as AHK, CCIFER, BEROCC, CCE, CCIBRP and Advantage Austria, we have sent the message to all major investors in these countries that they are welcome in Ghimbav and Brasov County.

The airport will open its doors later this year and will connect with airports from all over Europe through airlines that will create real economic and tourist bridges with Ghimbav and Brasov,” said Cristian Macedonschi, President of Smart City Association Brasov and co-organizer of the airport conference of Ghimbav.

Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport – the first energy efficient airport in Romania

Regional airports are currently not only facing an urgent need to recover from the financial losses caused by the pandemic, but also the need to go green.

“A smart city today is one that plans to reflect on the European Green Pact, that strives for an integrated transport and payment system, and that has the potential to become an energy-efficient European city. The European Commission emphasizes the importance of creating zero-emission airports and connecting them to other modes of transport. I am confident that the certification of airports in terms of CO2 emissions will increase in the coming years, which is very important,” emphasized the Swiss Ambassador in Bucharest Arthur Mattli.

“The latest technologies in the world are used at Brasov-Ghimbav Airport both in terms of security and air traffic management, and what is very important, the Brasov County Council is preparing a project and will be included in the list of investments through which it will be the first energy efficient airport in Romania. We will produce energy, we will store it on the grid and we will have energy independence. As it is being built today as an airport, it will benefit from all the technology to be an example for the other airports,” said Adrian Veştea, President of Brașov County Council.

“Romania, like any other developed country, needs smart airports. History tells us that economic development comes from connecting people to opportunity and what better way to connect them in this age than with airport connections. In Brașov and in the region you have done something extraordinary with the expansion of this infrastructure. They understood its potential and realized it. It is only a matter of time before this project generates investment, attracts tourists and creates opportunities for Brasov, Romania and Europe,” said Sebastian Burduja, Research, Innovation and Digitization, in a video message.

Also presented at the conference was the book How to Model Romanian Cities, written by Grațian Mihăilescu from UrbanizeHub.

The 6,000 lei that the Smart City Brașov Association will receive from the sale of the book will be donated in full to the organization dealing with the reception of Ukrainian refugees from the Brașov train station. An organization coordinated by Ms. Anca Petrescu.