Romania's capital airports closed 2025 at a record 17,700,242 passengers (+10.3%): Henri Coandă crossed 17 million for the first time, Băneasa reopened after 13 years — and a 176,000 m² terminal designed for 30 million passengers a year is on the boards.
OTP's 2025 was Romania's aviation milestone: 17 million passengers, home hub of TAROM and bases for Ryanair and Wizz Air, 63% of national traffic. The year's flagship investment was the full reconstruction of runway 08R-26L — the airport's biggest project ever — plus new taxiways and a Schengen-zone expansion that doubled peak-hour processing to 2,400 passengers.
CNAB's stated formula — new airlines, more routes, higher frequencies — delivered: H1 2026 already ran at 7.7+ million through OTP, and Băneasa's low-cost return (694,718 passengers, +549%) gave the capital a second field for the first time since 2012.
The next terminal — ~176,000 m², 30 million passengers a year, 6,500 passengers/hour, 48 aircraft stands, 20 boarding bridges, multimodal road and rail connectivity — is in design, with the M6 metro line (operational 2029) as its landside spine. Photovoltaic investment anchors the sustainability side.
Until then, OTP runs hot: record summers, runway works and a terminal complex processing well past its original envelope.
OTP is Eastern Europe's quietly compounding hub: no Gulf megaproject, just +6–10% every year on a low-cost and diaspora base that Schengen membership (January 2025) supercharged. For the traveller: today the airport transfer is the train from Gara de Nord (20–25 min) or bus 783 — the metro arrives 2029; budget extra time in summer peaks, and if fares allow, check Băneasa for a calmer low-cost experience closer to the centre. For the watcher: the new terminal's financing is the story — 30 million is a doubling bet on Wizz/Ryanair-era growth holding; watch slot allocation as Băneasa absorbs overflow and whether TAROM's restructuring ever produces a real hub carrier.
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