BIAS – Bucharest International Airshow
The first BIAS edition took place in 2010. Year after year, I would plan to go, but something always seemed to come up, and I would have to change my plans. Finally, in 2020, the stars aligned, and I could go. But it was not meant to be either. The airshow was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to restrictions caused by the Sars-Cov 2 pandemic. Then, in 2022, the good news arrived: the 12th edition would take place on September 3rd, 2022. I was determined to make it to Baneasa Airport for the BIAS airshow this time. I bought the plane tickets and booked a room at the hotel. I had planned to depart on September 2nd and return on the evening of September 3rd, even if it meant missing some afternoon flights at the BIAS airshow. All preparations were in place. However, about a week before BIAS, the weather took a turn for the worse. It became chilly and started raining heavily. The weather predictions for September 3rd did not seem too optimistic, but I hoped it would clear up for the airshow.
On the morning of September 2nd, I arrived at the airport and went quickly through security. TAROM Boeing 737-800 that I was scheduled to fly on had just touched down. The flight was short, but it went smoothly. Unfortunately, I could not enjoy the view because we were surrounded by clouds from take-off until we were almost landing. We experienced a bit of turbulence during the landing, which made some of the passengers unhappy. The wind was blowing strongly, but I was happy about it. I hoped the clouds would disperse and we would have good weather at the BIAS airshow. Upon landing, I switched on my phone only to find out that BIAS had been rescheduled to September 4th due to unfavorable weather conditions.
I headed towards Baneasa Airport, where the airshow flight rehearsals were held, hoping to capture some good photo shots. For the next three to four hours, I had the opportunity to witness some truly breathtaking aerial displays: Hawks of Romania, Aerobatic Yakers, UH-60 Blackhawk of the USAF, and the SMURD helicopter were just a few of the great aircraft on show. Unfortunately, by mid-afternoon, it had started to rain. I was hoping the next day would bring better weather so that I could enjoy and take some photos of the static exhibition at BIAS. Even though the airshow was rescheduled for Sunday, the static display could be visited on Saturday morning, starting at 08:30 a.m. Unfortunately, the heavy rain made it impossible to take any photos, so I headed for the Otopeni Airport and waited for my flight home. This time with TAROM Boeing 737-700 YR-BGG.
Despite all the rain and no airshows, at least I had my first flight with TAROM.
