Timisoara Traian Vuia International Airport (TSR), an international airport serving Timisoara, Romania, unveiled its new international passenger arrivals terminal in July 2021.
The inauguration of the new terminal marked the completion of the first stage of the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s investment project to improve the airport’s infrastructure.
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The construction work on the terminal project commenced in February 2019. The project involved an investment of approximately RON30.35m ($7.3m). Approximately RON2.34m ($0.56m) of the total investment was procured through the state budget, while RON13.27m ($3.18m) was secured as non-reimbursable European Commission funding. The remaining RON14.73m ($3.53m) was sourced from the airport’s own funds.
The second phase of the investment will involve the construction of the international passenger departures terminal.
Details of Traian Vuia Airport’s new international arrivals terminal
Spread across 4,383m², the new arrivals terminal is expected to allow the airport to accommodate three million passengers a year. It has four arrival gates, three customs checkpoints, three baggage belt systems, utilities and ten areas dedicated to border security checks.
The terminal can handle 540 passengers simultaneously. It features an approximately 200m² luggage processing area.
Furthermore, the terminal has independent baggage strip systems and an external baggage sorting area.
Contractor involved
Eldiclau, a Romanian-based construction firm, served as the contractor of the arrivals terminal construction project.
Other developments at the airport
In addition to the international arrivals terminal, a new 12,000m² departures terminal will be built next to the new arrivals terminal. It will have 18 check-in counters, six border police checkpoints, and six gates with automatic document scanning capability.
The terminal will also be installed with a safety control system comprising six filters and equipment for hold baggage control, and seven-passenger and luggage lifts. The construction of the new terminal is expected to begin in early-2022 and the new terminal is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The European financing agreement for the investment project was signed in July 2021.
The total value of the financing deal is RON184.454m ($44.49m), of which RON93.60m ($22.57m) are non-reimbursable European funds, while RON16.52m ($3.98m) are provided through the state budget. The remaining RON74.33m ($17.92m) is sourced from the airport’s own funds.
In November 2017, the Traian Vuia Airport became the country’s first airport to be installed with a charging station for electric vehicles. Italy-based energy supplier Enel Energie installed the station to promote electric mobility and reduce the carbon footprint of the transportation industry. The charging station can charge three cars simultaneously.
A high-performance beaconing system at the airport became operational in November 2020. It is designed to enable the operation of aircraft in very low visibility conditions. The RON2.9m ($0.71m) project was financed from the airport’s own funds.
Other major projects include runway upgrade and the development of a cargo intermodal centre and an intermodal passenger transport centre.
Timisoara Traian Vuia International Airport background
Operated by the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority, the airport is located 12km away from the centre of Timisoara.
It is the third-busiest airport in Romania and serves as the main air transportation hub for the western region of the country.
The airport was named in honour of a Romanian aeronautics pioneer Traian Vuia in February 2003.
The Traian Vuia Airport’s passenger traffic fell by 70.5% from 1.59 million passengers in 2019 to 470,631 passengers in 2020 due to the travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Freight traffic fell by 0.4% to 5,147t in 2020 from 5,167t in 2019.
The Timisoara International Airport was the first Romanian airport to receive certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2017.
