Since March 31, 2024, Bulgaria and Romania have been – at least partially – members of the Schengen area. For the time being, official passport controls will only be eliminated by air, as controls will continue to be carried out by land and sea.

Passengers flying from Schengen countries to Bulgaria or Romania will no longer be checked by the police at the point of departure. The controls also ceased at the destinations on March 31, 2024. Of course, this also applies to the reverse flight directions. Currently, only air travelers benefit from the fact that the Air Schengen agreement has come into force.

If you travel to or from Romania or Bulgaria by land, for example by train, bus or car, or by sea, official border controls will continue to be carried out by the police. The background is that the Schengen Agreement currently only applies to air transport. It is a compromise that Austria, which has massively opposed the admission of the two states into the Schengen area, has literally blackmailed. The government of the Alpine republic is of the opinion that both Bulgaria and Romania do not adequately secure their external borders with regard to refugees. While there were massive concerns about the land route, there was no objection to the air route.

Two days after it came into force, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner met Romanian Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu for a working meeting at Vienna Airport on Tuesday. Afterwards, the two ministers, together with the CEO of Flughafen Wien AG, Günther Ofner, informed about the effects of Schengen Air, the measures already taken and other initiatives at the European level.

“Schengen-Air underlines the good and necessary cooperation between our two countries when it comes to ensuring and ensuring the safety of the population,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. Schengen Air is a good step and a relief for many people when traveling by air in Europe.

In connection with the compromise on 'Schengen Air', three measures were decided between the Commission and the member states:

• A robust EU external border protection. Triple the Frontex operation on the Bulgarian-Turkish external border, more money for external border protection from the EU Commission, continuation of the pilot projects for external border procedures.
• Increased controls at national borders to combat smuggling crime. Deployment of Austrian document consultants at Bucharest and Sofia airports to support airport staff and police in detecting passport forgeries.
• Repatriation of asylum seekers to Bulgaria and Romania, this year already 90 people, mainly Syrians and Afghans.”
• Further steps in the fight against asylum abuse

“Romania has done an excellent job in protecting its external borders in recent months, thank you very much for that. Austria and Romania will continue to work closely together in this direction, for the security of the population in our countries and in Europe,” said Karner.

Romanian Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu said that Romanian citizens had earned access to Schengen Air, among other things, by increasing protection of state borders and investing hundreds of millions of euros in external border protection. Romania's progress in combating irregular migration is well known, such as stopping migration at the border with Serbia. Predoiu emphasized that the good cooperation with Austria, the member states and the Commission should be continued in order to improve the framework for asylum and migration.

Vienna Airport board member Günther Ofner said that Vienna Airport recorded around 2023 passengers to and from Romania and around 650.000 passengers to and from Bulgaria in 530.000. There are currently 47 weekly flight connections to Romania and 40 to Bulgaria. Ofner highlighted the excellent cooperation with the authorities and the executive branch and added that everyone at the airport who is responsible for security guarantees that this security will continue to be maintained.