Bucharest’s District 4 mayor promises airport in southern Bucharest

Daniel Băluţă, the mayor of Bucharest’s District 4, says his office together with the Giurgiu County Council have made the initial steps for the construction of an airport in the southern area of Bucharest.

Air traffic in Romania has not yet fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to Romanian Airports Association (AAR) data. Passenger traffic at Romanian airports reached 21 million passengers last year, an increase of 87.5% compared to 2021 and nearly triple the number from 2020. However, in the reference year of 2019, the best year for tourism, airports were transited by 23 million passengers.

"It's not a joke but a grave matter. Alongside the president of the Giurgiu County Council, we have initiated the preliminary procedures for building an airport in the southern area of the capital. It will be an international airport, serving both passenger transport and having a significant cargo component, as at this moment, Henri Coandă Airport (Otopeni) is overwhelmed in this regard. We are doing all of this because we want Bucharest to truly become a Western-style city – spacious, green, and above all, well-connected with the rest of Europe," Băluţă said, cited by Ziarul Financiar.

Henri Coandă Airport (Otopeni), the largest airport in the country, had 12.5 million passengers last year, an 80% increase compared to the previous year, according to publicly available data. The same airport registered over 120,000 aircraft movements, an increase of 30%. By comparison, in 2019, the airport had 14.7 million passengers.

The second-largest traffic in Romania was registered at Cluj-Napoca Airport (2.6 million passengers, an 81% increase compared to the previous year). Compared to 2019, the airport recovered 90% of passenger traffic and remained the largest airport in the province and the second busiest airport in the country after the one in the capital.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Călin)