Check compensationCheck

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP): flight delays and compensation

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

Check compensation or start a claim with AirHelp straight away

In short: Any flight departing from Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

About the airport

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) serves Bucharest, Romania. On the routes Eurostat reports, 13,671,733 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 36th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Istanbul, Milan, London, Vienna.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Bucharest – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom OTPReturn
Istanbul IST561,045424 km€250€250*
Milan BGY553,6801,290 km€250€250
London LTN520,2862,108 km€400£350
Vienna VIE515,181830 km€250€250
Amsterdam AMS470,9601,784 km€400€400
London STN443,8962,067 km€400£350
Frankfurt FRA391,4361,451 km€250€250
Paris CDG379,7551,851 km€400€400
Madrid MAD368,5072,459 km€400€400
Athens ATH346,535759 km€250€250
Brussels CRL344,9421,744 km€400€400
Rome FCO334,3801,163 km€250€250
Barcelona BCN328,9391,982 km€400€400
Munich MUC312,4751,172 km€250€250
Paris BVA312,1721,889 km€400€400
Antalya AYT302,537940 km€250€250*
Cluj-Napoca CLJ300,082310 km€250€250
Venice TSF290,0451,097 km€250€250
Bologna BLQ269,5081,172 km€250€250
Warsaw WAW268,893925 km€250€250
London LHR258,6412,105 km€400£350
Timișoara TSR245,143398 km€250€250
Rome CIA223,5551,136 km€250€250
Naples NAP214,1341,047 km€250€250
Catania CTA199,2441,215 km€250€250
Dortmund DTM193,4621,570 km€400€400
Birmingham BHX179,5592,213 km€400£350
Zurich ZRH169,6841,390 km€250€250
Málaga AGP164,7682,709 km€400€400
Bari BRI161,071851 km€250€250

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Henri Coandă (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 63,626 flights arrived at OTP; 606 of them were held back this way, 429 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.29 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • aerodrome capacity93%
  • other7%
  • special event0%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 30 July 2025 – 5,444 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 1 August 2025 – 3,158 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 31 July 2025 – 2,715 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 46,637 arrivals, 0.16 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly special event (58%) and aerodrome capacity (23%).

Check what happened at OTP on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (0% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (0%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 63,626 arrivals at OTP in 2025; 606 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 429 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was aerodrome capacity (93%).
  • The worst day was 30 July 2025, with 5,444 minutes of flow delay, mostly aerodrome capacity.
  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

    Check your flight from Bucharest

    Two minutes, free, no sign-up.

    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
    • AirHelp: Trustpilot 4.5/5

    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport?

    Yes. OTP is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
    2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.