Chișinău Airport limits access over hasidic pilgrimage
Access to Chișinău International Airport will be restricted from Thursday, September 25, until September 30.
Only passengers holding tickets and required travel documents will be allowed into the terminal.
“Passengers are urged to travel responsibly and arrive at the airport no earlier than three hours before their flight to avoid congestion at check-in and security and ensure a faster journey to the boarding gate,” the administration of Chișinău International Airport noted on Facebook.
The measure has been introduced following an increase in passenger traffic, specifically due to the annual Hasidic Jewish pilgrimage to Uman in Ukraine. The pilgrimage takes place every year, but its organisation has been complicated following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
In 2023, thousands of pilgrims travelled through the airport, both arriving and departing. Moldova refused to accept the arrangement for 2024, however, citing an unpaid security debt owed by Israel and the fact that the airport was already struggling with increasingly heavy traffic.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
