Romania opens new terminals at Timisoara, Iasi airports in time for Air Schengen

New terminals were inaugurated at the Timisoara and Iasi airports on Friday, March 29, the most important in the west and eastern parts of Romania. The two terminals opened just in time for Romania to become part of the Schengen Area with its airports (Air Schengen) and maritime borders.

The new Schengen Terminal of Timisoara International Airport covers an area of 8,000 square meters and can process 800 passengers per hour. The investment amounts to RON 190 million (EUR 38.2 million), with the majority of funds coming from European funds through the Large Infrastructure Program.

Construction of the new terminal began on November 1, 2022, and lasted 489 days.

The building includes a check-in and ticketing hall, a circulation hall in the public area, which also includes a connection to the Schengen Arrival Terminal, operational since 2021, a passenger and baggage security control hall, which also includes commercial spaces, a passenger regrouping hall, where there are 8 boarding gates and which is arranged on 3 levels, with pre-boarding counters, a food-court area, and a business lounge area, according to News.ro.

In total, 18 check-in counters have been installed, as well as self-check-in equipment and 6 automatic document scanning gates. The processing rate is high, at 800 passengers per hour, which means that 8 aircraft can be operated simultaneously.

Present at the inauguration in Timisoara, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu argued that Romania’s cities are finally developing. The official, who is also head of the governing Social Democratic Party, the candidates of which are gearing up for local and parliamentary elections on June 9, highlighted the investments that the government has made.

“There are hundreds of millions of euros that will be invested in the coming years in the port of Constanta, as well as in the other ports we have on the Danube. All these investments give me confidence that Romania is ready to join the Schengen area, both in terms of air and maritime borders. In less than 48 hours, Romanians traveling to Schengen will forget about the traditional airport checks. They will go directly to the boarding gates," the prime minister pointed out, cited by News.ro.