Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport

Constanţa "Mihail Kogălniceanu" International Airport Aeroportul Internaţional Constanţa Mihail Kogălniceanu
IATA: CND – ICAO: LRCK CND Location of airport in Romania
Summary
Airport type		Military/Public
Operator		S. N. Aeroportul International Mihail Kogalniceanu Constanta S.A.
Location		Constanţa
Elevation AMSL		353 ft / 108 m
Coordinates		44°21′44″N 028°29′18″E / 44.36222°N 28.48833°E / 44.36222; 28.48833 (Constanţa "Mihail Kogălniceanu" International Airport)Coordinates: 44°21′44″N 028°29′18″E / 44.36222°N 28.48833°E / 44.36222; 28.48833 (Constanţa "Mihail Kogălniceanu" International Airport)
Website		www.mk-airport.ro
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
18/36	3,500	11,483	Concrete
Statistics (2009)
Passengers[1]			92,983
Source: Romanian AIP at EUROCONTROL[2]

Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport (IATA: CND, ICAO: LRCK) is situated in south-east Romania, in the commune of Mihail Kogălniceanu, 14 NM (26 km; 16 mi) north northwest of Constanţa.^[2] It is the main airport of Dobrogea region and it provides access to the Constanţa County, the Constanţa city port and Black Sea Romanian resorts. The airport's maximum traffic capacity was reached in 1979, when the Romanian Riviera reached its highest number of foreign tourists; at that time CND served 778,766 passengers. It has been used as a base by US Military Forces since 1999, which has recently been allegedly exposed as the site of clandestine CIA interrogations. ^[3]

Airlines and destinations

The airport is capable of handling wide-body aircraft, its 3,500 × 45 m (11,483 × 148 ft) concrete runway also making it suitable for heavy cargo flights.

Scheduled airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Air Berlin	Seasonal: Nuremberg [begins 15 May]
Blue Air	Seasonal: Strasbourg
Carpatair	Timişoara
Condor	Seasonal: Berlin-Schönefeld [begins 5 June], Düsseldorf [begins 24 May], Frankfurt [begins 22 May]
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxemburg
Ryanair	Pisa, Milan-Orio al Serio [resumes 25 March]
XL Airways	Paris-Charles de Gaule Seasonal: Strasbourg

Ground transportation

Bus

Several city bus lines link the airport to the Constanta Railway station. There are also few private bus lines operating buses to downtown Constanta or other Black Seaside resorts.A shuttle service is also available.

Taxi

There are always cabs available outside airport terminal.The cost of a ride to Constanta is around $30 which is considerably higher than the bus rates which can be as low as $1.50.

Car

MK Airport is easily accessible by car and is located in north-western part of Constanta,which can be accessed from the DN 2A/E60 Constanta-Harsova. The airport is also linked to A2 (Autostrada Soarelui) by county road DJ 222 passing through town of Cuza Voda and DN 22C from Medgidia to Cernavoda.There are also car rentals available.

Parking

There is free short and long term parking right outside airport terminal.

Rail

Currently the airport has no rail service.

Military uses

Main article: RoAF 57th Air Base

The airport was home of the former Romanian Air Force 57th Air Base, which was the only unit operating the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter aircraft. The base was disbanded in April 2004 and all the 18 MiG-29s remain in open storage at the airport. It has been used by the United States Military since 1999. In 2003, it became one of four Romanian military facilities that have been used by U.S. military forces as a staging area for the invasion of and ongoing counter-insurgency efforts in Iraq, operated by the 458th Air Expeditionary Group, and it is intended to become one of the main operating bases of U.S. Army Europe's Joint Task Force East, a rotating task force initially to be provided by the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which will eventually grow to a brigade sized force.

As of October 2009 the US has spent $48 million modernizing the base. Plans are for the base to initially host 1,700 US and Romanian military personnel.^[4]

Involvement in "extraordinary renditions"

It is also alleged to be one of the black sites involved in the CIA's network of "extraordinary renditions".

According to Eurocontrol data, it has been the site of four landings and two stopovers by aircraft identified as probably belonging to the CIA's fleet of rendition planes, including at least one widely used executive jet N379P (later registered, and more commonly cited, as N44982).^[5] European (but not U.S.) media have widely distributed reports of a fax^[6][7]intercepted by Swiss intelligence, datelined November 10, 2005, 8.24pm, that "was sent by the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Cairo, to his ambassador in London. It revealed that the US had detained at least 23 Iraqi and Afghani captives at a military base called Mihail Kogalniceanu in Romania, and added that similar secret prisons were also to be found in Poland, Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria."^[8]

Main article: CIA prison system

Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport terminal, Constanţa

See also

• Aviation in Romania
• Transport in Romania

Notes

1. ^ Aeroportul „Mihail Kogălniceanu“ aşteaptă 95.000 de pasageri în 2010 (Romanian)
2. ^ ^{a b} EAD Basic
3. ^ Carvajal, Doreen (2006-01-12). "Swiss Investigate Leak to Paper on C.I.A. Prisons in Eastern Europe". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/international/europe/12cia.html. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
4. ^ Associated Press, "U.S. Base In Romania To Become Permanent", San Diego Union-Tribune, October 24, 2009, p. 6.
5. ^ Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners (November 16, 2006). "Working Document No. 8" (PDF). http://www.derossa.com/asp/docs/Working8.pdf. 
6. ^ US-Folter-Camps: Der Beweis! - Aktuell - SonntagsBlick - Blick Online
7. ^ unknown (January 9, 2006). "Egyptian Fax Throws Light on "Black Sites"". Der Spiegel. http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,394208,00.html. 
8. ^ Scotland's Sunday Herald, March 2, 2003

References

• Charlie Coon, Construction To Begin This Winter On Romania Bases, Stars and Stripes, September 30, 2006
• JTF East
• Sourcewatch link

External links

• Airport's website