Intense preparations at Timișoara Airport for a double historic event. It is about the inauguration of the new departures terminal, built with 38 million euros, and the first flight after Romania's accession to air Schengen.
Andrei Obreja, IT and communications director of Timișoara Airport
With the accession of Romania to the air Schengen area, the Border Police's document checks will be eliminated for travel to destinations in the Schengen area. The only regular flights from Timișoara where Romanians want to travel like so far is Great Britain, to which are also added the charter flights to Turkey, Egypt or Tunisia.
On March 28, the inauguration of the new Schengen Terminal at Timișoara Airport, built with 38 million euros, will take place.
Preparations at Timișoara Airport PHOTO Ștefan Both
The document control filter will disappear, but the security filters, mandatory for any flight by plane, will remain. Careful! No one will be able to travel without ID, as they could by land. First of all, the plane ticket cannot be purchased without personal data.
“In the Schengen Terminal, the Foreign Departures terminal, which will be inaugurated on March 29, passengers will be able to travel to Schengen countries exactly as if they were going to Bucharest now. Traveling in a Schengen country is exactly like traveling in our own country. However, it should be noted that man is not anonymous on a plane. Upon boarding, the slips will be checked to confirm the identity of the passenger holding the boarding pass. The one who travels is also the one who holds the ticket. So, we don't leave home without a report card“, said Andrei Obreja, IT and communications director of Timișoara Airport.
Preparations at Timișoara Airport PHOTO Ștefan Both
X-ray based gates
The new terminal will have six X-ray machines for passenger security screening, which will be able to process 800 passengers per hour.
“Of course, the security check won't go away. The safety of passengers during flights needs to be ensured. We will have six passenger screening streams with x-ray machines. We will also have metal detector gates and, for the first time, body scanners. The person has to sit for two seconds, and thus the SRI officers obtain an image where any foreign object will be highlighted. We will also be able to identify non-metallic objectsAndrei Obreja also stated.
Preparations at Timișoara Airport PHOTO Ștefan Both
Non-Schengen terminal
Following the reorganization at Timișoara Airport, the old Terminal B will turn into the non-Schengen terminal, where new security systems have been installed. Passengers can go through automated biometric passport control gates.
“If at the Schengen Terminal passengers will no longer be subject to document control when crossing the state border, in the non-Schengen Terminal it is necessary to implement measures that satisfy the Schengen Standard, as well as Frontex instructions. Timișoara Airport purchased six automatic document control gates. These gates analyze the data stored in the biometric passport chip and compare this data with the passenger's biometrics which is taken via fingerprint readers and cameras installed at the gates. If there are suspicions, this information goes to border police officers“, said Andrei Obreja.
Preparations at Timișoara Airport PHOTO Ștefan Both
In 2023, 19 percent of passengers at Timișoara Airport traveled to and from non-Schengen countries.
Preparations at Timișoara Airport PHOTO Ștefan Both
The first flight from the Schengen Airport of Timisoara to the Schengen area will take place on March 31, from 6:15 a.m., with the destination Stuttgart, of the Lufthansa company.
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Preparations at the Schengen terminal of Timișoara Airport PHOTO Ștefan Both
