Review: Cluj Napoca International Airport (CLJ), Romania

Cluj

Cluj Napoca Airport, CLJ, officially known as Avram Iancu International Airport Cluj, and initially known as Someseni Airport, is located only 9 km / 6.5 miles from the city center. It is the busiest airport after Bucuresti Henri Coanda (OTP) , in terms of traffic, and is currently a focus airport for TAROM – Romania’s national carrier – and WizzAir – the biggest low-cost carrier in Central-Eastern Europe.

How to get to

Being so close to the city center, it only takes about half an hour to get to the airport, regardless of the means of transportation you are choosing.

There there two public buses serving the airport : bus line nr 8, starting in Mihai Viteazu Square, passing by the Main Railway Station (Gara CFR) and stopping at the Airport and Bus line nr 5 , starting at the Main Railway Station (Gara CFR) and stoping at the Airport.

Both lines run every 10 min from Monday to Friday, starting at 5:05 am and until 10:40 pm; during the weekend and legal holidays, they run about every 30 min.

Tip: you can buy a ticket directly in the bus by texting 7478.

Should you need to come by taxi , there’s a stop at the Passenger Terminal Arrivals . Use this link to make sure you choose a legal taxi service.

The easiest way is to get to the airport by car.

Our experience

We flew out of / into Cluj Airport back in September 2013. Our route was Cluj Napoca – Bari – Cluj Napoca on Wizz Air.

Thanks to having family in Cluj Napoca, we were lucky enough to be given a ride to the airport. Parking is really cheap (1 RON / 0.25 USD) for up to 10 min (which is plenty if you are only dropped off / picked up). Even if you need to stay longer, you are looking at little over 1 USD for half an hour.

I found the airport to be small…and rather cute. We always arrive about 2-3 hours before the departure, even though we do have the online check in done so we only need to go through security check. We don’t check any bags either. Lately, security check in Romanian airports only opens for a particular flight at the same time when airport check in opens: that’s an hour prior to the flight. Therefore, we make a point to be among the first in line.

Having had some cringe-worthy experiences at Bucharest Baneasa (BUH) , I was happy to see that the security check went very smoothing. We do pack according to the regulations though and this helps a lot.

Toilets, cafes, shops and restaurants all ensure you have a pleasant time before the flight departure.

We were lucky not to have encountered queues or a very crowded airport. Nowadays , however, more and more friends tell me that the airport has become crowded and is in dire need of an additional terminal due to the traffic.

>> use this site to check out the airlines which fly to/from the airport and cities which are connected to Cluj Napoca by air

Our rating

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3 thoughts on “Review: Cluj Napoca International Airport (CLJ), Romania

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