Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport to modernize baggage carrousels
Otopeni Airport has started the modernization of its baggage carousels located in the international arrivals section with a RON 15 mln (EUR 3 mln) investment.
The new baggage carousels will have a 20% higher processing capacity and will significantly reduce the time that passengers spend waiting to collect their baggage, according to the Bucharest Airport Company (CNAB) cited by Economedia.ro.
Four of the six lanes in the international arrivals section will be modernized in the initial phase, which is set to last five and a half months. The first baggage carousels to be replaced will be numbers 3 (floor 1) and 4 (ground floor), after which the other two (1 and 2, both upstairs) will also be replaced.
Three of the six baggage carousels located in the arrivals section have been in operation for nearly 20 years and need to be replaced.
During this time, the luggage processing capacity of the section will be reduced. Only 5 of the 6 baggage carousels will be functional at a time, with a possibility that the number will drop to 4. The Bucharest Airports Company warns that there will be times when the waiting time for baggage collection will increase. It is for this reason that the modernization was scheduled for the off-season.
Airport spokespersons promise that the EUR 3 mln investment will yield worthwhile benefits, and passengers seem to agree that it is a necessary one. “When we arrived in the Netherlands a week ago, at Schiphol airport, the luggage arrived almost at the same time as us. When I returned to Bucharest, I waited for my luggage for almost an hour,” a passenger told G4Media back in June.
“CNAB, together with the contractor, will take all possible measures so that downtime for the lanes that are being replaced is minimized. At the end of the modernization process, estimated for mid-February 2023, passengers will be able to enjoy a modern, silent system with an increased capacity, which will implicitly shorten their wait time," said CNAB.
(Photo source: George Călin / Inquam Photos)
