Bucharest - Otopeni International Airport

...it notes the following:
Bucharest Otopeni International Airport is located km 16.5 from the city of Bucharest on the Bucuresti - Ploiesti Road, 71562 Otopeni – Ilfov, Romania
Phones + 40 (21) 201 40 00
+ 40 (21) 204 10 00 Head Office + 40 (21) 201 33 04
+ 40 (21) 201 32 20 Arrivals Infoline + 40 (21) 204 12 24
+ 40 (21) 204 12 20 Departures Infoline + 40 (21) 204 12 10
+ 40 (21) 204 12 00 Protocol ...
...(21) 204 10 66
+ 40 (21) 204 13 98
+ 40 (21) 204 29 58 Business Lounge + 40 (21) 204 20 32
+ 40 (21) 201 33 66 mailto:b.lounge@otp-airport.rob.lounge@otp-airport.ro Fax + 40 (21) 201 49 90
E-mail otp@otp-airport.ro

Check our their “About Us” pages for the history of the airport and its development – fascinating reading. It also has interactive clickable pages for the layout of the whole ... more

The Old Otopeni:
The first time I visited Otopeni airport in Romania’s capitol of Bucharest, it was dark, dirty, dingy and very small. If I recall correctly, we had to walk the tarmac to get from the plane to the terminal. Crowds of people were milling about trying to get their passports seen to. Since I was with a group, there was someone there to meet us who took our passports and brought them to passport control. I can’t tell you how afraid I was that I’d never see my passport again – this being a scant few years after the fall of Communism in Romania. But we got our passports back after almost 30 minutes of standing about, and were ushered beyond the passport control partition to the baggage claim. Here again, people were pushing and shoving to get a trolley and find their luggage among the heaps that had been strewn off of the single conveyer belt. After we succeeded there, we were led through to the exit where other crowds awaited friends and families who were finishing the same hair-raising process we had gone through. Then the long walk to the car park and we thankfully made our way to our hotel.

When I left Romania, I was taken back to that same tiny, ugly building and ended up in more queues for check-in and passport control. The waiting rooms were badly lit and crowded with no shops or places to purchase even a cup of coffee, or anything else for that matter. I remember thinking how lucky we were that it was winter since it seemed that a good deal of our traveling companions had not yet discovered the joys of western decadence in the form of soap and deodorants. I tried in vain to not use the washrooms, to no avail, and my fears were not unfounded. The best thing was getting out of the building and walking on the tarmac out to the plane for take-off. This happened only about eight years ago, and as you can see, it was not a pleasant experience, by any standards.

Otopeni - Half Old, Half New:
The next time I came to Romania (four years ago) the arrivals terminal wasn’t changed much. I still had to walk the tarmac to get from the plane to the terminal. The passport control area was still painfully slow, but now there was a hall of sorts where people could queue up for the inspection. Unfortunately, this was vastly understaffed, and the wait was extremely long. Once passed this hurdle, you were led to the baggage claim area. By this time, someone had come up with the idea to make people pay for the baggage trolleys. That forced you to change money at the airport, which was very much of a mistake as the single bank there was notorious for having the worst rates available throughout the country. (Quick aside - this hasn’t changed much and the many currency exchange places in Otopeni today still have the country’s most lousy rates.) The most unusual part of this experience was that there was now a duty free shop for arriving passengers. This one shop was the best place in the country to purchase cigarettes and alcoholic drinks, but precious little else. I can’t remember exactly how little I paid for a carton of cigarettes at the time, but I recall it was laughably little. The baggage was still handled on a lone conveyer belt, and the exit area was still cramped and crowded – even at the dead of the night hour that I arrived. I felt like I was in a time warp to right back where I had been years before.

However, by that time they had built a new departure terminal, which was efficient, clean, pretty and comfortable. Mind you, they still had no shops open, but evidence that they would shortly be ensconced was everywhere. Furthermore, there was no need to walk the tarmac since this new terminal was equipped with sleeves that allowed passengers to board without going outside. The décor was done up in grays and blues, with carpeted waiting areas that had comfortable leather seats. Between the different areas the floors were done up in shiny granite tiles making pushing or pulling a trolley around a very smooth ride indeed. Check-in went quickly with the many desks they had installed, despite the large group of passengers. Passport control was also well laid out, with more than sufficient staff. Brightly lit signs were everywhere telling you where you were and where things were. Totally modern – so at least that experience was half-pleasant.

The New Otopeni - Arriving in 2003:
When I arrived on this visit, I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. The whole airport has been totally revamped. Your international flight will arrive at the same new terminal that was just opened when I departed Romania on my previous visit, so that your flight will connect to the arms equipped with sleeves so there’s no need to step outside. As you leave the arms, you walk up the gangway through a brightly-lit hall that leads directly to the new passport control area. Here you’ll find half a dozen desks each equipped with a glassed in officer who will check your documents in a quick and efficient manner. The décor is a combination of shiny granite tiles in soft, comforting colours of crème, gray, beige and a quiet blue. Moreover, you’ll notice that everything is sparkling clean.

After leaving the passport control, you are ushered through a long corridor that is actually a gangway between the new terminal and the old terminal. Here, the floors are covered either in those same tiles or in blue linoleum that has those bubbles on them so you won’t slip. There is even a moving sidewalk on the right side of the gangway, to assist you on your way, if needs be (even though the whole gangway is only about 250-300 meters long). If you look to your right just beyond the moving sidewalk, you’ll notice an area marked “transit waiting rooms”. I’ll say more about this area later.

I should note here that if you are arriving on a domestic flight, you won’t get the sleeves, but rather the plane will park further away from the terminal and a bus will transport you from the plane to a spot somewhere in the middle of the gangway. At that point, you’ll need to climb four flights of stairs to enter the gangway at a point just beyond the passport control station. One of my fellow travelers wondered what they’d do if you are disabled, and unfortunately, I haven’t a clue – so this may be a problem if that’s your situation.

At the end of the gangway you’ll enter the new luggage claim area. Today, instead of one lonely conveyor belt, there are now three large, rambling ones, and the trolleys are - once again - free of charge, even though these are now in abundance and look very new. There are still several currency exchange stations in this area, which still give the worst rates in the country (but you probably guessed that already). The luggage seems to arrive quite quickly. There are still some staff persons who grab the bags off the belt that have been around more than once, so if you get delayed in getting to the luggage claim area for any reason, you might want to look at those stacks first for your bags. It is worth mentioning that the bathrooms here are brand new, in perfect working condition and spotless. All of this area is in the same décor, and is very welcoming indeed, with the addition of large glass windows and a very high ceiling to give an open and refreshing feel to it.

At one side of this hall there is the usual green and red lines for customs. Once you’ve passed this, there is a set of electronic, sliding doors that open into the arrival’s waiting area. Again, this is decorated in soft, comforting colors with lots of glass around it. Unfortunately, if you miss the bathrooms in the luggage claim area, you’ll have to take a walk down a flight of stairs to get to the bathrooms here. If you’re traveling alone with lots of baggage this could be a big problem, so I suggest you “do your thing” before you leave the luggage claim.

My last notes on the arrivals are both good news and bad news. The bad news is that just in front of this terminal the road is being torn apart. This is being done to make a new pick-up lane for busses, taxis and cars. So for the moment, any transportation to town from the airport can only be found across the way on the top level of the parking garage. The good news is that the whole complex is now non-smoking. Yes, I know this isn’t good news for smokers, but don’t despair – the place is really so small and efficient that you’re out of there before you know it and can get your fag in no time.

The New Otopeni – Departing in 2003:
As I mentioned before, the new terminal was built just over four years ago and is very modern. The one anomaly here is that the first thing you’ll get to when you enter this building is the security check of your luggage. It is obvious to me that this security check area was added as an after-thought, and with no other spacious area to put the x-ray machines, they ended up putting them in the open area before the check-in counters. This means that people accompanying you prior to your flight will be cut off from you almost as soon as you get inside – since, of course, there are no un-ticketed passengers allowed after the luggage security check.

This also has an adverse effect on the check-in area. Most of the décor here is in black and gray marble with those nice leather seats. Since, the luggage security checks area is between the glassed in front of the building and the check-in area, the natural light is blocked off from the check-in area, making it very dark looking, despite it being very cleanly kept. You should know that El Al passengers as well as TAROM passengers travelling to Israel have a second security check area before they can go through passport control. It is from this separate room that you will also depart for internal flights within Romania. Be careful in the summer, however, since this area is insufficiently air-conditioned, and if your flight is in the morning, all of the sun comes in the glass windows and heats it up like a sauna.

Passport control is slightly cramped here with only three stations, but it seems to go fairly quickly despite the smaller staff. Afterwards you enter the departures waiting area where there are now two spots for purchasing refreshments – a bar and a self-service snack bar. However, I was unable to find any duty-free shops, or at least a place where they sell T-shirts. I found this to be strange, but no stranger than not being able to find any tourist targeted T-shirts anywhere in all of Romania! There’s a market here that’s totally untapped and when someone gets wise to it, they’re going to make a bundle, I’m sure.

I told you before that the departure area is also the transit passenger lounge. Here you’ll find more of those leather-upholstered seats, which are arranged in friendly circles. The décor hasn’t changed since it was opened, and I’m pleased to say that it has been well maintained. The bathrooms are modern and aesthetic, and again, are kept scrubbed and polished. It seems that everything has been done to help you feel as comfortable as possible. By the way, for those smokers among us, even though all of the rest of this airport is non-smoking, you can have your final fag before take-off at the bar located at the closest point after the passport control desks. Strangely enough, this bar looks out onto the gangway that you walked when you arrived in Romania.

Security:
I thought this deserved a separate section for this op. As I’ve already written here, there seems to be a pretty good security system here for checking baggage. However, you should also know that there are police and armed soldiers stationed around every flight that goes to or from Israel. The airport has police around it in general as well, and I’d say that as far as that goes, its doing a pretty good job. That they don’t check the cars and trunks of vehicles that enter the airport is something that apparently is only done in Israel, so one really can’t complain.

Bottom Line:
Otopeni Airport in Bucharest, Romania has come a very long way over the past eight years. Its gone from being cramped, crowded, dingy and dark, to being light, airy, welcoming and efficient. When the final construction at the exit from the arrival area is finished, this will be a truly lovely little airport, if shy on in-house shopping. I'm giving it four stars for the effort. Once renovations here are totally completed, the only thing left for Romania to do is fix up the rest of the country! But that’s the subject of another op altogether, isn’t it?

Thanks for reading!

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Technical Stuff:
The name Otopeni is actually pronounced auto-PEN, but everyone calls it auto-PENNY – hence the bad pun of a title here. Sorry!

The official web site of this airport is: http://www.otp-airport.ro/

On this page it notes the following:
Bucharest Otopeni International Airport is located km 16.5 from the city of Bucharest on the Bucuresti - Ploiesti Road, 71562 Otopeni – Ilfov, Romania
Phones + 40 (21) 201 40 00
+ 40 (21) 204 10 00 Head Office + 40 (21) 201 33 04
+ 40 (21) 201 32 20 Arrivals Infoline + 40 (21) 204 12 24
+ 40 (21) 204 12 20 Departures Infoline + 40 (21) 204 12 10
+ 40 (21) 204 12 00 Protocol Service + 40 (21) 204 12 12
+ 40 (21) 204 10 66
+ 40 (21) 204 13 98
+ 40 (21) 204 29 58 Business Lounge + 40 (21) 204 20 32
+ 40 (21) 201 33 66 mailto:b.lounge@otp-airport.rob.lounge@otp-airport.ro Fax + 40 (21) 201 49 90
E-mail otp@otp-airport.ro

Check our their “About Us” pages for the history of the airport and its development – fascinating reading. It also has interactive clickable pages for the layout of the whole airport. Pretty cool, I think.
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