Romanian Presidential Administration declassifies cost of former president Iohannis’ flights abroad

The Romanian Presidential Administration, currently under interim president Ilie Bolojan, has declassified and made public the costs incurred for the flights taken by former president Klaus Iohannis from January 2015 to February 2025, the time he was in office.

Iohannis undertook a total of 193 official trips during his mandate, amounting to approximately 450 flights, according to data provided to BoardingPass by the Presidential Administration.

Reporters and opposition parties had long asked for more details regarding Iohannis’ frequent and seemingly luxurious flights abroad. Now declassified, the documents show that roughly RON 31.66 million was paid for the 99 official visits made by the former president during the five years of his first term.

Costs with official visits abroad increased during the former president’s second term. As such, the Presidential Administration paid around RON 81.31 million for the rental of private planes used for the 93 official trips undertaken between 2020 and 2024.

The cost of the president's first and only trip in 2025, to Brussels, was RON 685,000 (EUR 137,600).

In total, the Presidential Administration paid nearly RON 114 million (EUR 22.9 million) for all 193 trips. The highest amounts were spent on chartered planes for the president’s visits to Asia and South America in the spring of 2023. During that time, the press in Romania took notice of the increased costs for flights.

According to estimates from broker IconicJet, the amounts paid for most of President Iohannis’ trips within Europe are significantly above market rates. Moreover, throughout these years, the planes used by president Iohannis were almost exclusively rented from Toyo Aviation (Romania), while those used for trips to the US, Asia, Africa, South America, and some in Europe were rented from Global Jet (Luxembourg).

The Presidential Administration states that its monthly expenses will be published on the website www.presidency.ro, in accordance with applicable legal provisions, starting in April 2025.

Romania does not currently have a presidential aircraft.

(Photo source: Dr. Alfred Mutua on Facebook)