A total of 11.3 million passengers transited the airports in Romania in the first half, 5.4% more than the same time in 2019. Otopeni Airport recorded 6.7 million passengers in the first six months of 2023 compared with 6.8 million in 2019.
Other airports to see a decline in the number of passengers were Timisoara, Sibiu, Bacau and Satu Mare. All the others saw an increase. One airport stands out, Iasi, which reached the 1 million passenger mark in only six months for the first time, as in the first half of 2019 it recorded only a little more than 600,000 passengers.
Growth this year is, however, due in part to Wizz Air, which chose to suspend Chisinau flights on March 14, moving operations to Iasi. The airline cited ‘security’ reasons for the move.
This puts Iasi Airport on the third place among Romania’s airports, after Otopeni and Cluj-Napoca, a position it got during the pandemic, when it overtook Timisoara.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)