On the newly built terminal, stretching over a surface of 19,600 square meters, passengers and airlines benefit from high standard facilities and top level services, backed by state of the art technology, all this incorporated in a modern and expressive design. The four-storied terminal will operate all domestic flights, whose passengers will benefit from high class services, a VIP salon, laid out near the boarding gates. The terminal practically doubles the airport’s processing capacity, boasting 52 new check-in desks, apart from the 52 existing ones.

Passengers can also choose boarding formalities at 8 new “self check in” facilities, which means less crowded rooms and little time wasted standing in line. The security checks and control of luggage on the new terminal are made by high-tech and state of the art systems in the field, which guarantee one of the highest standards of security at international level. Passengers can also go to several shops, restaurants and bars, which cover an area of approximately 400 square meters.

The platform for cars and buses in front of the terminal has also been redesigned and resized, and the public parking lot for the passengers’ cars boasts 240 more places. As of March, Henri Coanda Airport has taken over low-cost flights that had been operated by the “Aurel Vlaicu”second largest airport in Bucharest. Thus, air traffic has increased, the airport registering 45% more landings and 30% more takeoffs. After the inauguration of the new terminal, aviation authorities say air traffic will see an increase of up to 5 million travelers.

The terminal has been designed to meet a series of requirements entailed by Romania’s prospective accession to the Schengen area. Scheduled for the spring of 2011, Romania’s Schengen accession has been repeatedly postponed, the reasons evoked by the decision makers being not linked to technical criteria that Romania claims to have met long ago, but on the functioning of the judiciary. France and Germany have however found a compromise solution, that is Romania and Bulgaria can join the free movement area in stages. The first stage includes air and sea frontiers and the second stage land frontiers.