Europe has many great airports. Among my favorites are Copenhagen, Munich, Stockholm, and Zurich. Then there is my least favorite in Europe, which is Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport.
Bucharest, The Worst Major European Airport
I’ve traveled through Bucharest twice this year and I cannot think of a more embarrassing hub for TAROM and a more passenger-unfriendly airport to transit or spend any amount of time in.
Why Bucharest Airport Is Absolutely Awful
I visited Bucharest earlier this year to fly one of the last Airbus A318 jets in passenger service (now retired) and spent a night in Bucharest. More recently, I flew to Bucharest as part of my SAS Million Mile EuroBonus challenge.
Each visit to OTP led to the same conclusion: wow, this is bad…
The Airport Is Crowded; Lines Are Horrible
I find the layout of this airport so strange and the walkways very crowded.
Flight arrivals means hundreds of people pour into areas that are far too small to accommodate them, creating bottlenecks.
Immigration lines can be horrendously long with gaggles of people pushing and shoving.
Romania is now part of the Schengen Area, which has slightly improved the crowding, but it is still one of the most disorganized major European airports I have ever traveled through.
There Is No Airport Wi-Fi Network
It’s 2024. But not only does the airport lack a free Wi-Fi network: it lacks an airport-wide Wi-Fi network at all! During both visits this year (and a third in 2022), I tried to find a connection and could not. If there is a hidden network somewhere, my mobile and laptop could not find it. What kind of major airport would not have wi-fi?
There is no excuse for this: it’s absolutely fundamental to offer stable and fast wi-fi at an airport.
There Are No Power Outlets
Want to charge your power device? You’re on your own. As far as I could find (and I searched high and low) there are no public power outlets in the terminal. A few of the restaurants have them, but as you can expect there was a very high demand for them.
I finally found one in the gate area of another flight…and it did not work.
I guess you don’t need power outlets because there is no internet?
Any decent airport should have multiple charging stations and power outlets with both 110/220V and USB plugs.
But I guess locals know what to expect because I saw many portable power banks…
Smoking Rooms Don’t Enclose The Smoke…
I have no problem with airport smoking areas, but I do have a problem when cigarettes and other smoke from those areas seep into non-smoking areas. Ventilation matters! Keep the smoking rooms, but fix the ventilation…
Staff Are Rude And Indifferent
For select premium cabin passengers, there is a Schengen and non-Schengen Lounge, but there is no Priority Pass access and the lounges themselves are not very inviting. I got yelled at for taking pictures…which is always a warning sign of someone not wanting to be held accountable.
I understand that these matrons may not be used to having people take pictures of lounge food, but you don’t start yelling at me…it’s rude and unprofessional.
As for indifference, my LOT Polish flight on this current trip was delayed: the aircraft had departed Warsaw late and was set to arrive just before our scheduled departure time. There was no gate announcement: the montiors did not even indicate a flight delay.
Public Restrooms Are Crowded And Smelly
The restrooms–and I can only speak for the men’s restrooms–are crowded and stinky. Why is there no proper ventilation? Why no seat covers for the toilets? Why are there not adequate stalls for the number of folks flying through this airport? It’s the only airport in Europe I can think of off the top of my head where you may face a line to use the little boys’ room…
Nespresso Coffee Only?
Ok, just a personal gripe, but it felt like the airport had a coffee deal with Nespresso because every airport café or coffee shop had only Nespresso coffee. That’s not great coffee and a shame because Bucharest has many nice coffee shops and it would be great to see at least one in the airport.
CONCLUSION
While there are many secondary airports used by budget carriers in Europe that are very bad, Bucharest strikes me as the worst of the major airports/hubs in Europe and it is not improving. The immediate installation of power outlets and a strong wi-fi network throughout the airport would go a long way toward making it a more inviting airport to travel through.
Im sure we’ll be seeing more reviews of Budapest airport from Ben now that Cairo is off the table as a cheap starting point for biz flights.
Your comment is so typical of people not knowing geography. Budapest is the capital of Hungary. Bucharest is the capital of Romania.
Oops! You are right.
And unfortunately I wish youth was my excuse!
That’s OK :-)). It is just that we from that part of Europe can be very sensitive to his. In Budapest you can even buy T-shirts with this caption: “Budapest is NOT Bucharest”.
I’m half Swiss. You’d be surprised how often Americans mix up Swiss with Swedish.
You’d also be surprised at the number of Americans in Austria asking where to see the koalas
Im Australian. Throw another shrimp on the Barbie!
I do totally agree with you just about everything. Terrible airport.
You didn’t even mention the lounges (there are only two of them (schengen and non-schengen, both have the same operator). I think major airlines should enforce those lounges to improve. There are better lounges in Tanzania and Angola than in OTP. Even ORD T5 swissport lounge is better.
Also the airport train is operating with broken windows.
In summer, the AC is so ineffective, you feel like you’re in Senegal.
But to their credit. They do actually have wifi, and as in the rest of Romania, its lightning-fast. Digi (Romanian internet provider) made a lot of investments in the past decades to the region to have the highest average internet speeds in the world.
Also to their credit, they do have a separate security line for people with disabilities and families with small children. My wife is pregnant, and that saved us from standing in line for 40minutes.
I did not find a single open internet network.
Do you have a power bank thingy? So important these days. Although I guess not ideal for a laptop.
I flew through this airport last week and completely agree. I’m addition, there was a horrendous lack of seating. Inexplicably, the passenger fees for this sorry excuse of an airport were nearly €23. Where is this money going? I strongly suspect corruption.
I genuinely enjoyed Bucharest, but I will not return until a new terminal or significant renovations are made. It was that bad.
Haha, the review comes days after Ben Lucky was Cairo Airported for his review!
Airports in India lack wifi for foreigners, only Indians.
The OTP to foreign phones doesn’t work (cost issue?). There may be a government mandate about identifying every wifi customer. My way around is to ask the lounge attendant. They will give you a wifi code. Or just tether to your phone internet.
Was there in 2022. Everything you said is true but a few more comments on things I’m wondering if you noticed either this time or the time before: the prices in the airport are the highest of almost any airport I’ve seen. The price disparity between Bucharest and the airport itself is 3-5x. Also, In the summer, they did not turn on the AC (if it even exists)—everyone was sweating and sitting on the floor.
Somebody sounds a little cranky. How long were you in the airport ?
I remember terrible lines for getting through departure formalities here about 10 or so years ago.
Are you trying to provoke the Romanian government?
Why infantilize us? “Little boys room”? That’s weird AF.
Low on caffeine, high on exhaustion?
Yes, all I had that entire day was my little cortado from MAD! 😉
Lukas, you’ve never heard that expression?
I have but only in the context of talking to small children, not adult men and women who are the target audience of your blog.
It’s a common enough phrase amongst adults talking to adults about adults that your pearl clutching seems weird.
The blonde in the bottom right corner of the stairway photo had a look-to-kill on her face when you snapped the shot. 🙂
Aside from corruption, perhaps Romanians/locals have the attitude that they have more than enough drunk British and German tourists flooding into the city to spend money so why bother making it too comfortable for them?
When I was single, I could handle a nasty, filthy airport with massive crowds and nowhere to sit but when traveling with a family with small kids, it’s a new circle-of-hell of suffering.
You just described every one of the half dozen airports I visited in the 1980s in the Soviet Union. Thanks for mentioning the crowded hallways and people shoving. Lovely experience. A favorite memory was being told to enjoy my experience in the Workers Paradise but I should be sure to bring my own toilet paper.
Romanian tourist authority accuses blogger of lies in 3…2…1…
Passed through once and that was enough,a real pity if entering Romania too because I found the people very friendly,to the point of an invitation to stay in their home,after a train ride conversation.On the flip side,rumour has it London Luton is even worse.Prize goes to Schiphol two years back with hours long waits just to get in the terminal.No problem, everyone is young,healthy, athletic and can stand outside in the summer sun indefinitely.
Another gem I only saw in OTP – shops and cafes don’t take Romanian Lei, only Euro. They’re in Romania but don’t take Romanian money?!
From the modest selection of European airports I’ve visited – OTP is surely the worst. ZRH best.
LOL, wow is that true?!
I have been through about 6 times this year and I have 1 more arrival and departure to go in the next week or so. Immigration no longer applies if coming from a Schengen country, which now means no queues.
I have carry-on only so I no longer wait for the baggage collection.
Getting Uber is easy, I head downstairs to Departures, Go to Door C or D and the Ubers are all over you because they don’t have to battle the mess up in arrivals, not to mention the abuse the taxi drivers give them.
Apart from those 3, I agree, the worst bloody airport in Europe. I’ve even nominated it as worst in the world. But then there is Tunis.
I have flown only Tarom and KLM in and out this year so Skyteam and am FB Platinum. I used the Business Lounge once. That was enough. Utter garbage, utter fraud that they would charge anything and yet, locals are lining up with their credit cards to get in. I decided to wait at the Gates. No seats.
My flights next week will be KLM again going in but Qatar on the way out, so I guess I will get to experience Immigration. Your comments have me truly frightened!!
And whoever said they had rude staff, I concur fully. The staff don’t give a shit. But if I worked there, day in and day out, I guess I would have the same attitude.
If you’re departing anytime from about 08.00 to 18.00 be prepared for lng lines, but to give them credit, they do get through them fairly quickly. So even when Security is lined up outside the terminal, you have about half hour-40 minutes. Which is a lot better than many US Airports.
Overall, it’s a bloody mess. But if you grit your teeth, put your happy hat on and just grin and bear it, you’ll survive.
As for Bucharest, what a stunner. Nice city with lots of parks, beautifully restored buildings and loads of pedestrian malls. Cafes everywhere. Summer is the go.
I don’t think there’s a single romanian person who would contradict this entire post. Everybody hates the airport, it’s massively, criminally, insultingly overpriced for sub-par quality on absolutely everything. It’s maddening that you can never find power outlets anywhere, it’s crowded almost all the time, and there are lines everywhere.
The only saving grace, and the only thing I would correct from this article, is that there is actually free wifi (curious that you didn’t see an open one), it’s unlimited and very fast.
But to hell with everything else regarding this sorry excuse of an airport.
I’m so glad to hear there is wi-fi and don’t know what my problem was because I did not see one.
@ Matthew — You will be arrested next time he passes through Bucharest. 😉 Seriously though, this is a country where the people are very worried about a possible Russian invasion, which will be become even more likley under the new US dictatorship of morons.
Pro tip: in summer, go to the ground floor level where the bus gates are for AC.
Flew otp to tlv a few weeks back. Airport is small. Lounge is a disgrace. El Al flight and lounge was full. It is at capacity. Immigration was efficient. But nothing to do in schenegan area. Traffic from otp to city took for ever. There is a train. About an hour drive in rush hour. Bucharest is gorgeous. Cheap. Friendly people safe.
Totally disagree. Just left last week. Security was a breeze to get through, gate didn’t require an hour long hike to reach, ticket counters are right inside drop off point, etc. I don’t go to airports to play on my laptop or drink coffee, I’m trying to go somewhere.
We’re so happy for you, John!
Lmao are you trying to rival Schlappig and his CAI story?
Completely agree with you – one of the worst airport in the Europe. I am also rather surprised how they managed to become part of Schengen when the country is still economically not viable to support it’s own citizen. I can understand the situation if it was still in the cold war era, but after so many years and so much funding from the EU, sadly not much development has happened anywhere including the capital.
Couldn’t agree more! Today was my second time past 2 years when I had awful experience, it hasn’t changed at all. Dirtiness, no power outlet, broken toilets, lack of sign made me go to the wrong area (transfer) then had to pass through the security again. Incredibly messy in immigration and passport control which is unbelievable as I’ve been over 60 countries across 4 continents and never ever had so many issues in an airport before. The staff is rude and try to scared you in so many ways, the security again stopped me to check if my name was confirmed in the passenger list?! I’m assuming he wants to scared me as I’m solo female travelling. Hope I never ever will return tho this airport. Lounge when you fly business outside Schengen is awful, dirty, small, people saving seats (for who?) which made me have a coffee stand up in the middle of the lounge. Speechless
Wanna see an airport with longer lines at the boysroom?
Heathrow, London
They need to quadruple the restroom capacity to keep up with the crowd.
But at least LHR has some great lounges.