Premium
Otopeni, Baneasa airports ready to operate separated Schengen/non-Schengen flows
Bucharest Henry Coanda International Airport and Bucharest Baneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport are hundred percent ready to operate Schengen/non-Schengen passenger flows separately, the Bucharest Airports National Corporation (CNAB) reported on Wednesday.
CNAB is said to have taken all necessary steps in time for its infrastructure to become compliant and prepared specific procedures in collaboration with the relevant institutions, especially the General Border Police Inspectorate.
Official data reveal that of the total international traffic, two thirds of the passengers travel to or from destinations located in the Schengen area and, once Romania enters the free movement area, these passengers will no longer pass through the border control counters, as they will be relocated.
"Passenger flows are ready for operation, and the check counters for non-Schengen flows, both for exiting and entering Romania, are already in place and connected to the computer network. Preparations were completed as far back as late 2022, and only the unfavorable decision of the JHA Council meeting made them not come into operation at that time. (...) a large part of the terminal infrastructure at Henri Coanda airport - commissioned in 2011 and 2012 - had been designed for use in the Schengen/non-Schengen system and since then CNAB had to make special efforts to ensure the processing of passenger traffic which, in the last 11 years, has doubled."
On December 31, 2023, the member states of the European Union (EU) unanimously approved the gradual entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the border-free Schengen area after Austria, the last EU-27 country that opposed the measure, dropped its veto. From 31 March 2024, there will no longer be checks on persons at EU internal air and maritime borders between Bulgaria and Romania and the other countries in the Schengen area.
