Chișinău airport terminal expansion to start by October
Prime Minister Vasile Tofan ordered urgent terminal expansion works at Chișinău International Airport by October, warning on Friday that soaring passenger traffic has pushed the facility to operational capacity limits.
Immediate congestion relief
The prime minister visited the airfield on September 12, demanding immediate interim measures to accommodate heavy passenger flows during peak departure windows. Tofan called for additional seating, mobile food and beverage stalls to ease queues, and augmented staffing at security screening checkpoints.
“The good news is that we have over six million passengers—traffic has doubled in two years. The bad news is that we are effectively overwhelmed when queues back up to the arrivals area,” said Tofan. “We have far too little space for far too many passengers. That is why terminal reconstruction must move forward immediately. We need to select the winning bidder and begin construction no later than October.”
The prime minister also instructed airport authorities to reposition domestic Moldovan products, including local wines and confectionery, into prominent commercial spaces. “We are missing out on major commercial opportunities because the airport lacks sufficient capacity,” Tofan added.
Record summer passenger surge
The inspection follows a record-setting summer travel season at Moldova's primary air gateway. In August, Chișinău International Airport handled 853,000 passengers, marking a 13% increase compared with the same month last year.
The sharpest passenger increases were recorded on routes connecting Chișinău with Istanbul, Yerevan, Sharm el-Sheikh, Athens, and Tel Aviv. Travel volumes also expanded toward central and western European hubs, including Prague, Brussels, Venice, Barcelona, and Berlin.
More than 38,000 passengers traveled on newly launched routes during the month, representing roughly 4.5% of total airport traffic. The air hub also handled 305 metric tons of air cargo and mail over the same period.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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