Over 21 million passengers transited Romanian airports last year, 87% more than in 2021. Compared to 2020, the value recorded in 2022 (21,015,948 passengers) is almost 192% higher. Even though last year’s total number of passengers is 9.55 percent below the peak recorded before the pandemic (year 2019), it exceeds even the most optimistic traffic scenarios that were estimated for 2021, which means that commercial aviation in Romania recovered faster than market expectations the losses from the pandemic years.

Regarding aircraft movements in 2022 (landings and take-offs), the total of 220,681 represents an increase of almost 32 percent on the 2021 figure but remains 17 percent below the 2019 figure.

Air cargo traffic, on the other hand, was above the level recorded before the pandemic: in 2022, 53,877 tons of cargo were transported at Romanian airports, 5.8% more than in 2019.

“For civil aviation, the past few years have been very difficult, but we have managed to recover above the forecasted figures. It was a strong return, especially in the summer months, when some airports in Romania recorded higher traffic values than in 2019. There is great potential and we estimate that in 2023 we will exceed 24 million passengers, and if we talk about long-term estimates, we expect that in 2040 Romanian airports will register almost 50 million passengers”, said David Ciceo, president of the Romanian Airports Association.