Bucharest's main airport to be first in Romania with coordinated landings, takeoffs
The National Company Bucharest Airports announced on Tuesday, June 9, that the "Henri Coandă" International Airport, the main point of air travel to and from the Romanian capital, will be the first in the country with coordinated landings and takeoffs.
The airport will be coordinated by the world’s largest independent airport slot coordinator, Airport Coordination Limited, a British company that provides similar services for 80 major airports on all continents. The company will provide full coordination services at Bucharest “Henri Coandă” Airport, one of the fastest-growing airports in Central and Eastern Europe, under a multi-year agreement that will enter into force in October 2026.
With the introduction of the highest level of coordination (“Level 3”), the operational functioning of the airport will be significantly optimized. Flights will be scheduled through the approval of “slots” (fixed landing and takeoff times), which will allow the coordination of the actual capacity of runways and terminals with the scheduled number of flights. In this way, every landing and takeoff will be aligned with the airport’s declared capacity, ensuring optimal use of runways, aircraft parking stands, and terminals, reducing congestion and improving airline punctuality.
“The implementation of coordination will significantly improve the way airport capacity is managed, through more efficient use of infrastructure and the reduction of traffic during peak hours, marking an increase in the level of services offered to both passengers and airlines,” said Bogdan Mîndrescu, General Director of the National Company Bucharest Airports, cited by News.ro.
Once the system is operational, the airport will move to a coordinated seasonal plan, with more efficient planning of operational services and resources (boarding gates, aircraft parking stands, baggage belts, etc.), and the airport’s operational capacity will be managed efficiently as the number of flights and passengers grows.
“We are delighted to welcome Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport as the 80th airport in ACL’s global network. This is an important partnership, not only because of Bucharest’s size and growth, but also because it represents a decisive step toward coordination at a time characterized by increasing demand,” said Neil Garwood, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Coordination Limited.
All major European airports, such as London, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin Schönefeld, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, and Madrid, benefit from Level 3 coordination.
Bucharest “Henri Coandă” International Airport is Romania’s main international gateway, with more than 17 million passengers and 127,700 landings and takeoffs in 2025.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)
