Bucharest’s Henri Coanda International Airport, formerly known as Otopeni Airport, is located in the small town of Otopeni, less than 17 km from the centre of the Romanian capital. It is Romania’s busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic. It is also one of the base airports for low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air.
Bucharest Airport has one passenger terminal, which consists of two separate buildings – the departure and arrival halls.
According to the classification of the International Air Transport Association, the airport is assigned a code ‘OTP’.
The official website of the airport is www.bucharestairports.ro.
From the airport to Bucharest
The easiest way to get to the Romanian capital is by bus. There are two routes to choose from.
Bus No.780 connects Henri Coanda Airport with Bucharest Central Station (Gara de Nord). This express runs from 05:30 am to 11:05 pm.
Another bus, No.783, runs through the city centre. It also runs every 40 minutes at night (and every 20 minutes during the day).
Bus stops are located at the exits of both terminal buildings.
Although they are called express buses, they actually stop at every stop along the route, so the journey to the city centre will take an average of 40 minutes. Also note that there is no space for luggage.
As for the fare, it is 3.5 lei (about €0.80) one-way. You have to have an Activ transport card that you can buy for 3.7 lei and have to recharge it. Otherwise the cost will be higher.
The Activ card can be purchased at the RATB (Regia Autonoma de Transport Bucuresti) kiosk located on the right side of the arrival building. The card is valid not only for city buses but also for the metropolitan trams. It is possible to let other people onto public transport with an unacceptable card, as long as you have enough money. Before boarding, the Activ Card must be ‘e-carded’ by attaching it to a special device in the passenger compartment.
Another way to get from the airport to the centre of Bucharest is to take a special shuttle bus outside the terminal to the nearest railway station, 1 km from the airport. From there, take the Henri Coanda Express train to Gara de Nord. The ticket price is 6,8 lei (shuttle fare is included in this amount). Tickets can be purchased at the arrival building. This option essentially duplicates the 780 bus route, but the journey time will be at least 50 minutes and a transfer will be required.
A comfortable taxi ride to the centre of Bucharest will cost 40-50 lei (up to €11).