Bucharest's Henri Coanda International Airport in Bucharest (Otopeni), the largest in the country, reached almost 3 million passengers in the first three months of this year, resulting in an 8.5% traffic growth over the same period last year, according to data submitted by company officials to Ziarul Financiar daily. 50 aircraft took off on average daily from the airport.

"In the first quarter, we had 2.99 million passengers. We expect to finish the year with 15 million passengers. The airport had an expected increase in the first three months, determined by new routes as well as higher aircraft occupancy rates," said Valentin Iordache, the spokesman of the Bucharest National Airport Company that manages Henri Coanda (Otopeni) and Aurel Vlaicu (Baneasa) airports.

He also said that in the summer season the traffic would further increase, due to charter flights to holiday destinations.

In 2018, Henri Coanda Airport had a record air traffic of 13.82 million passengers, an increase of almost one million passengers compared to 2017. Aurel Vlaicu (Baneasa) airport is comparatively much smaller, with 20,551 passengers (up 16.61% year-on-year) in 2018.

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