♦ Airlines have opened several direct routes from Romania to destinations in Europe. In addition, the offer of charter flights includes several exotic destinations ♦ Air passenger transport is the only mode of transport that registered an increase in the first three months of this year: 6 million passengers, of which 5.5 million on foreign routes.Neither inflation, nor economic uncertainties, nor geopolitical tensions have diminished Romanians’ appetite for travel. On the contrary. In the first four months of this year, Romanians spent 2.9 billion euros on vacations abroad, 400 million euros more than in the same period last year, when the bill amounted to 2.5 billion euros, according to the latest data published by the BNR. The data also confirms a trend that has strengthened since the pandemic, namely that vacations seem to be an «antidote to the crisis», even when domestic consumption is falling in many other categories of products. Traveling abroad has become one of the most enduring forms of consumption. Regardless of the economic context, the vacation remains one of the last expenses that Romanians are willing to give up. You may also be interested: The increase in the amount spent by Romanians abroad is also supported by the ever-expanding offer of flights. Airlines have opened more direct routes from Romania to destinations in Europe as well as exotic ones. Only Wizz Air, the leader of the airline market, has put up for sale this year 18.5 million available seats in Romania, increasing by 14.5% compared to the previous year. Charter flights to foreign holiday destinations are added to regular flights. At the same time, travel agencies report a high demand for city-break packages, as well as for stays in Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy or more distant destinations. On the other hand, the amount spent by foreign tourists in Romania increased slightly, by only 7%, to 1.4 billion euros in January-April, public data also shows. The effect on the balance of payments is the deepening of the tourism deficit to 1.5 billion euros in the first four months of the year, compared to 1.2 billion euros last year. In other words, the rate at which the amount spent by Romanians abroad increases is much higher than the level at which domestic destinations manage to attract money from foreign visitors. And the figures from Statistics show that in the first part of the year, more precisely in Q1, air traffic reached 6 million in the first three months of the year, an increase of 7.8% compared to Q1 last year. The winning bet was foreign flights. Out of the total of 6 million passengers registered in Q1 2026, 5.55 million traveled on foreign flights, a segment that advanced by 7.7% compared to the first quarter of 2025. If air transport was the only mode of passenger transport that registered an increase in the first quarter of this, intercity and international road transport as well as rail transport recorded decreases compared to the similar period of last year.
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