Traffic at Bucharest Otopeni airport doubles after low cost airlines move flights in

Low cost airlines flights recently moved from the smaller Baneasa airport North of Bucharest to the main airport for the capital city – Otopeni airport. This will trigger a 45 percent increase in passenger traffic, and the number of arrivals and departures will also go up by some 30 percent, according to Compania Naţională Aeroporturi Bucureşti (CNAB), quoted by Agerpres.ro. The low cost airlines in Romania claim that moving flights from Baneasa Airport to the International Henri Coanda Airport - also known as Otopeni, will lead to an increase of around 4 percent in ticket prices. “Moving flights to Otopeni from March 25 will lead to 25 percent higher operating fees for us, which will be seen in the ticket price. The increase will be around 4 percent, which means EUR 6,” said Michael Powell, Finance Manager Wizz Air. The low-cost flights’ transfer from the smaller Baneasa airport North of Bucharest to the main airport for the capital city –the Otopeni airport, was announced last year by Romania’s Transport Ministry. The Baneasa airport will become a city airport for VIP flights by 2015, according to the Ministry’s plan. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com