Kosice in Slovakia, Suceava in Romania, Lublin and Rzeszow in Poland and Chisinau in Moldova: the total closure of air traffic in Ukraine since the start of the war launched by Russia in 2022 has had an impact on Ukraine's border airports. Positive effects for these airports on the European Union's eastern borders, each of which has seen a steady increase in flights and passenger numbers over the past two years. Passenger traffic at Suceava, for example, is almost double what it was in 2019, while Rzeszow in north-east Poland, the airport closest to Lviv in Ukraine, passed the million passenger mark last year.
But the redistribution of air traffic is particularly noticeable at Chisinau international airport (RMO) in the Republic of Moldova. The platform was recently at the heart of the first international conference on air transport in Moldova organised by Aviation-Eventan organisation specialising in media events in Central and Eastern Europe.
Chisinau is becoming a magnet for airlines
The conference, which was attended by Moldovan ministers and secretaries of state, representatives of the European Union and the German parliament, as well as air transport stakeholders, highlighted the rapid development of Moldova's only international airport. At the same time, the event demonstrated the importance of the country as a bulwark against what is now perceived as Russian expansionism in Europe. With Ukraine, Moldova is the other official candidate for EU membershipto anchor it in the west.
Chisinau, until now on the fringes of Balkan Europe, is now on the front line. " Not only have we become the gateway to our country, but also to our Ukrainian neighbour. 27% of our traffic is made up of passengers travelling to Ukraine" says Andrei Spinu, Moldova's Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development.
Last year, the airport welcomed 2.84 million passengers, an increase of 26% over 2023. According to Andrei Spinu, the airport should welcome between 3.3 and 3.5 million passengers this year. With 5 million passengers in sight before the end of the decade. Chisinau is thus establishing itself as the main gateway to south-east Ukraine, Odessa being just three and a half hours' drive from the Moldovan border.
This positioning has attracted a dozen new companies. And Chisinau can now count on a network of almost fifty destinations. The Star Alliance is particularly present through Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. To French-speaking Europe, FlyOne, Moldova's largest carrier, offers daily flights from Paris CDG and Brussels. In summer, the airline also operates three flights a week from Nice, while low-cost carrier HiSky offers three weekly flights from Beauvais to Chisinau.
" Even if air transport resumes in Ukraine with the return of peace, Chisinau airport will continue to prosper. We plan to invest between €200 and €300 million to build a new terminal capable of handling up to 10 million passengers. We are thinking of linking the airport by rail to make it a true multimodal hub. This will be done in parallel with the modernisation of our rail lines, particularly to Romania and Ukraine." said the Minister.
A wind of optimism is blowing over air transport in Chisinau, even if political uncertainties remain. The proof is in the pudding: last February, the French group Lagardère organised a press conference to announce its interest in a tender for commercial concessions at the airport. According to the Moldovan press, the group looks set to win the tender.
