Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport

Planning

The project has been widely supported by the local population and some businesses in the area have announced plans to switch to air freight services. It is expected that the airport will create 4,000 jobs and reach 1 million passengers in 8 years, with a further 6,000 jobs being generated indirectly. Planned costs of the project were originally estimated at €87 million.^[7]

In 2006, the Romanian State Domain Agency transferred 110 hectares of land to Brașov County. Intelcan Canada was to develop and build the airport in coordination with Brașov, Harghita, and Covasna counties as well as the Ghimbav city. The airport's charter was officially signed on 14 November 2005. Intelcan inaugurated the construction of the airport on 15 April 2008.^[8] The initial target for completion was twenty-four to thirty months. However, due to legal matters and a lack of funds, the construction works had stopped and Intelcan left the project, being replaced by the local authorities.

Construction

On 18 November 2012, the Brașov County authorities signed a €12.7 million (VAT excluded) contract with Vectra Service, a local construction company, for building the runway.^[9] Eventually, construction of the airport restarted in April 2013 with the works at the 2,820 m (9,252 ft) runway.^[7][10][2] On 3 October 2014, the runway was officially inaugurated.^[2]

The contract for the construction of the main terminal building, with a total area of 11,780 m² (126,800 sq ft), was awarded to the Romanian contractor Bog'Art Bucharest and was signed on 21 August 2019.^[11] Construction works for the passenger terminal started on 17 March 2020^[12] and were completed by March 2021.^[13][14] The construction works on the entire site were finally completed in May 2023, with the total costs raising to approximately €140 million.^[15]

Air traffic control is provided by a remote virtual tower operated from 400 km (250 mi) away, in Arad.^[16][17][18]

Opening

In the first year of operations, the airport is expected to service 300,000 passengers.^[19] It is expected that the traffic at the airport will reach one million passengers by 2026, and the construction of a second terminal, or more likely an extension of the already existing building,^[20] is envisioned for 2027–2033.^[21]

The airport opened on 15 June 2023. The first flight was a TAROM flight from Bucharest, operated by a Boeing 737-700 registered YR-BGG (TAROM's retrojet) which touched down at 08:10 in the morning.^[22] The first international flight was Dan Air flight 234 from Stuttgart, operated by an Airbus A320 registered YR-DSE.^[23][24][25]

Operations

Upon the airport starting operating, the Romanian authority for air traffic control only allowed flights on the site between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM, due to the limited number of trained staff able to handle the work.^[26] Because of this situation, some carriers operating at the airport rerouted their flights that had been delayed outside these working hours to other airports, such as Bucharest or Sibiu.^[26] From January 2024, the airport has extended its operating schedule to 11:00 PM.

The then new Romanian airline Dan Air had been the most active carrier upon the airport's opening, with a large number of routes served, yet from November 2023, they decided to move all their flights to the Bacău airport, because of the tight operating schedule.^[27] In December 2024, Fly Lili announced the termination of all scheduled operations from Brașov by January 2025, citing insufficient business figures. The airline's disastrous arrival would negatively impact the airport, which would barely surpass the 200,000 passenger mark, and the terminal expansion projected for 2027-2029 was put on hold.^[28]

In 2025, Wizz Air delivered a major boost for Brasov by adding six new routes and increasing frequencies in other two—an expansion that is set to drive the airport's traffic beyond 400,000 passengers. This growth marks a decisive shift from Wizz Air's earlier focus on Sibiu, where it increased weekly flights on 4 out of 5 currently served destinations and expanded their base. The airline's substantial new investment in Brasov is expected to put the airport firmly back on a growth trajectory, restoring confidence in its long-term ambitions. ^[29]