Bucharest BBU on the up; Wizz Air & Ryanair have scheduled flights in 2026
Bucharest Baneasa (IATA code BBU) was the first commercial airport to serve the Romanian capital. In the late 1960s, Bucharest OTP opened, which remains the country’s primary airport today. Yet OTP’s distance from central Bucharest is more than double the distance as from BBU.
From early 2012 until 2023, BBU only had no commercial airline service, as all operators switched to OTP. Between 2007 and 2011, BBU benefited enormously from the then-new (U)LCCs, with nearly 2.4 million passengers in 2011. It accounted for a third of Bucharest’s passengers, which fell to 4% in 2025.
Given BBU’s characteristic round terminal, which is very small, a new terminal is due to open in the coming years. This will increase capacity, especially at peak times, significantly. It will futureproof the airport, and to contribute to the traffic growth to/from Romania’s capital.
Wizz Air & Ryanair are BBU’s only scheduled carriers
According to Cirium schedule data, Wizz Air previously served BBU between January 2007 and March 2012, when aircraft were based there. In this period, it had a total of 26 routes. It was the ULCC’s sixth-busiest airport by seats, after London LTN, Katowice, Budapest, Warsaw WAW and Gdansk.
Wizz Air returned to BBU in July 2024, initially from Madrid, Malaga and Seville using non-based aircraft. Its base reopened in April 2025, initially with one A321neo but later two.
In Q3 2026, Cirium shows that Wizz Air will have 11 routes from BBU: Basel, Budapest, Frankfurt HHN, Hamburg, Krakow, Memmingen, Milan BGY, Naples, Stockholm ARN, Warsaw WAW and Wroclaw. The airline plans 2.6 million two-way seats from BBU/OTP in those three months, which will be its most capacity to/from the Bucharest to date. It will be one of its most-served cities.
Ryanair arrived in BBU in October 2025, which marked its first time at the airport. That’s because it has only flown from Bucharest since 2014, which was two years after BBU closed to airlines. Last October, five routes began: Bari, Girona, Karlsruhe, Krakow and Memmingen. Only these five markets will be served in Q3.
Milan BGY is the top scheduled route
Wizz Air and Ryanair will collectively have 480,000 two-way seats at BBU in Q3. Unsurprisingly, this is the airport’s highest capacity in the peak summer since 2011.
Some 14 destinations will have scheduled flights, of which eight are not served from OTP. On 15 April 2026, Wizz Air began flying to Karlsruhe (6-weekly), having last flown from OTP to the German airport in 2020/2021.
With 84,600 two-way seats, Milan BGY will be the leading market in Q3. In mid-July, Wizz Air will operate 14-weekly. The ULCC previously served OTP-BGY until 2023, which Ryanair continues to serve (14-weekly). Both airlines, along with Animawings, also fly OTP-Milan MXP.
Since BBU reopened, Cirium shows that various scheduled have ended. Among others, they include Abu Dhabi, Ancona, Athens, Baia Mare, Barcelona, Brussels CRL, Comiso, London LTN, Madrid, Malaga, Nice, Rome FCO, Seville and Turin.
