The Traian Vuia International Airport in Timisoara, in Western Romania, plans to invest EUR 10 million over the next two years to add two terminals for Foreign Arrivals and Foreign Departures and modernize the building’s existing façade, local news agency Mediafax reports. The investment is required to keep up with the growing traffic on the airport.

“This year, the airport’s administration kicked off an investment budget project to cover the infrastructure needs generated by the air traffic growth. In 2016, the Timisoara International Airport had 1.16 million passengers, 26% more compared to the previous year. This year, we estimated a 46% increase in the number of passengers, to some 1.6 – 1.7 million passengers. The current infrastructure will not be able to cope with the predicted traffic, in the near future. Thus, maybe the most important objective is to expand the passengers’ terminal,” Dan Idolu, the director of the Timisoara Airport, told Mediafax.

The expansion work will have three stages: the building of a Foreign Arrivals terminal, the expansion and modernization of the existing façade, and the construction of a Foreign Departures terminal.

“Work on the Foreign Arrivals terminal will start, I estimate, somewhere in May – June 2017, and will end by March 2018. The investment stands at EUR 2 million, and will expand the airport’s surface by 3,000 sqm. This terminal will have ten document checkpoints, three luggage carousels, and a generous public area,” Idolu told Mediafax.

The funding for the investment should come from the state budget. The investment for the Foreign Departures terminal stands at EUR 8 million and entails an 8,000 sqm surface expansion. According to Idolu, the funding for this terminal should come from EU sources by the end of 2018.

At the same time, the Timisoara Airport is looking to expand the cargo terminal with funding from its own budget.

In January 2017, over 113,000 passengers flew out of the Timisoara Airport, 74% more compared to the same month of 2016. The airplanes’ passenger load factor also went up. On average, each airplane leaving the Timisoara airport carried 80 people, compared to 74 in January 2016. Bucharest, London, and Munich were the top destinations of those flying out of Timisoara. Some 20% of those departing from Timisoara were flying to domestic destinations, meaning Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, and Iasi. Starting this June, a new domestic destination will be available from Timisoara for the summer season, Constanta.

“It is obvious that more and more passengers in the western region of Romania, but also from Hungary or Serbia, choose to take the plane for medium and long distances, in favor of the car, train or coach transport,” the airport’s director explained.

As low cost airlines add more domestic and foreign flights to and from local airports, an increasing number of passengers are opting for air travel over car or train transport as an air trip can be both cheaper and faster. Irish low-cost airline Ryanair added a flight between Bucharest and Timisoara last year, as did local Blue Air.

Timisoara should see an increasing number of tourists in the coming years as it has been designated one of the three cities holding the European Capital of Culture 2021 title, alongside Novi Sad in Serbia and Elefsina in Greece.

Cluj airport gets permits for expansion and modernization

Timisoara will be Romania’s European Capital of Culture in 2021

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Traian Vuia International Airport Facebook page)