Romania’s international airport in Cluj-Napoca will extend its runway to 3,500 meters in the following years and it plans to introduce intercontinental flights to New-York, after this project will be finished, according to David Ciceo, general manager of the airport. Romania doesn’t currently have any direct flights to the U.S.

“We estimate that in seven to eight years we will be able to operate the first intercontinental flights to New York,” Ciceo said in a press conference, according to Mediafax.

Next year, the “Avram Iancu” airport in Cluj will introduce direct flights to Sweden’s capital Stockholm.

“This year we are closing in on a traffic of 1.2 million passengers, due to new airlines which opted for Cluj and to the new 2,100 runway, which is the first phase of the 3,500 meters runway,” Ciceo added.

The work on the new runway started in September 2011 and in the first phase, it was extended to 2,100 meters. The total costs of the project are estimated at some EUR 78 million. The extension of the runway to 3,500 kilometers requires the river Somes to be deviated.

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