The Irish airline Ryanair is returning to Romania with some routes from the older of the two capital airports. After a years-long absence, partly due to the temporary closure to commercial aviation, the company is celebrating its comeback at Bucharest Băneasa Airport in the 2025 winter flight schedule. Among other destinations, flights will be to Memmingen and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
Starting with the 2025 winter flight schedule, Ryanair will fly to Bucharest's Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu Airport (BBU), which serves as the Romanian capital's second airport and is located just twelve kilometers from the city center. The choice of Băneasa is interesting because this airport was historically used primarily for charter and business flights and is now being more heavily integrated into scheduled air traffic. The five new routes Ryanair will offer from this location are:
- Baden-Baden (Germany)
- Girona (Spain)
- Bari (Italy)
- Memmingen (Germany)
- Krakow (Poland)
This expanded offering will encompass over 300.000 seats per year and include 26 flights per week. Alicja Wójcik-Gołębiowska, Ryanair's Head of Communications for Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, expressed her delight at the development: "Ryanair is delighted to commence operations at Bucharest Băneasa – our fourth airport in Romania – with five new routes launching this winter. These new services to Baden-Baden, Barcelona, Girona, Bari, Memmingen, and Krakow will increase connectivity, offer more choice to Romanian consumers and visitors, and support over 200 new local jobs."
Memmingen and Bucharest: A new connection in focus
Particular attention is being paid to the new connection between Memmingen and Bucharest. When a Ryanair Boeing takes off from Memmingen for the first time on October 30, 2025, it will land at Băneasa Airport. This route will be served four times a week: Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Marcel Schütz, authorized representative of Memmingen Airport, emphasized the attractiveness of this new route: "With this new connection, we have an unbeatable and diverse offering for Bucharest and Romania. Business travelers, in particular, will have attractive options for quick business trips with up to eleven departures per week."
The mention of "eleven departures per week" makes it clear that the new Ryanair connection complements the existing flight options to Bucharest. The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air already flies seven times a week from Memmingen Airport to Bucharest this summer, but to Henri Coandă Airport (Otopeni), Romania's largest and most important airport, which is only slightly further from the city center. Ryanair's new connection thus not only offers more options but also a competitive situation that could have a positive impact on airfares. This development is beneficial not only for business travelers, but also for city break travelers, those exploring Romania, as well as for friends and relatives of Romanians living in Germany and commuters, who will now have even more travel options at attractive prices. Tickets for the new routes can already be booked via the Ryanair website.
Ryanair's strategy in Romania: continued investment and market presence
The expansion at Bucharest Băneasa underscores Ryanair's continued investment in the Romanian market. Romania, as one of the growing economies in Europe, offers attractive growth opportunities for low-cost airlines. Ryanair's strategy to establish itself at four Romanian airports and offer a growing network of low-cost routes across Europe is a clear sign of the airline's long-term commitment to the region. Having a presence at multiple airports in one country allows Ryanair to cover diverse catchment areas and efficiently connect both the capital and regional centers.
Competition among low-cost airlines in Romania is intense. In addition to Wizz Air, which also has a strong presence in the country, other European and local airlines are also active. Ryanair's approach of choosing Băneasa Airport for its new routes could also be aimed at serving specific niche markets or directly competing with its rivals. Positioning itself as "Europe's Number 1 Airline" requires continuous expansion and the development of new markets to maintain this status.