Romania in Air Schengen and maritime Schengen. What changes from Sunday at airport checks

Romania enters the Schengen area with air (Air Schengen) and maritime borders starting from Sunday, March 31. The Secretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior, Quaestor Bogdan Despescu, explained what this means for travelers, but also for the authorities and what new measures will be applied.

“We want to present and clarify all aspects related to the measures ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs starting from March 31, 2024, respectively the measures necessary with Romania’s entry into the Schengen area, when border controls will be lifted on the air and maritime space. This situation does not impose any additional obligation on passengers. The additional obligations are exclusively the responsibility of the authorities,” Bogdan Despescu declared on Thursday, during a press conference organized at the “Henri Coandă” International Airport, according to Agerpres.

He showed that last year 23 million passengers passed through Romanian airports.

“The analyzes regarding the force requirement were based on information from 2023 and several years ago. At Romanian airports, in 2023, over 160,000 flights were registered – 66% of which were Schengen – and more than half of Schengen flights at Otopeni Airport. We are talking about 23 million passengers, most of them being registered at Otopeni, somewhere around 14 million, followed by Cluj-Napoca Airport, with around 3 million, and Iaşi Airport, with around 2 million. Out of the total number of passengers, 300,000 were minors, and in the case of 2,500 of them, the measure was taken of not allowing them to leave the country”, detailed Despescu.

Passenger control

Bogdan Despescu announced that, after March 31, the staff working in the area of ​​airports and seaports will be supplemented to guide and inform passengers. He specified that canine crews specialized in drug detection will also operate in these areas.

“Starting with March 31, 2024, people traveling to or from destinations in the Schengen member states will no longer have to go through border control. What we present to you today will apply starting March 31 in the other 16 airports and 4 seaports, those located in Constanţa county. Specifically, the persons who enter the terminal, after going through the security control procedure, an activity that is carried out only by the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and an activity that is current in all airports in the Schengen Area and, of course, other international airports, the respective persons do not they will be subject to border control as it is today, at the bells we all know. Passengers will go directly to the boarding gates and throughout this route, they will be able to be checked by the Border Police, the mixed crews of the Romanian Police, the Romanian Gendarmerie and the General Inspectorate for Immigration. I make it clear that these counters, which today are both for Schengen and for non-Schengen, will work, starting from Sunday, only on the non-Schengen flow”, explained Bogdan Despescu.

Random controls

He added that random checks will be made to detect those who have false travel documents, wanted persons or those who are banned from leaving the country.

“Police and Gendarmerie teams will carry out random checks. These checks are for the purpose of detecting those who have false travel documents, those who are prohibited from leaving the country, to detect the wanted persons, compliance with the rules regarding the accompaniment of minors, a very important aspect, combating migration and human trafficking. If no problems are detected during the control procedures of the Police and Gendarmerie teams, the passengers will continue their journey without any problem, and if certain problems are identified, the person or persons in question will be led into the line the second verification, where, based on the additional activities, their situation will be clarified”, the state secretary also sent.

Control at the entry into the country

He announced that citizens coming to Romania from Schengen will no longer be controlled.

“Citizens who come to Romania from the Schengen Area, after disembarking, will no longer be controlled as they are today at the counters. Also in a random way, they can be checked by the Police and Gendarmerie teams. In order to simplify the interaction with citizens and reduce the verification time, at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the control mechanism was improved by equipping our staff with scanning systems, for verifying documents in a digital form and systems that can be used on the go, mobile. If today we are talking about these systems only in tonneaus, in counters, from March 31 these devices can be used in the airport parking lot, in the entrance area of ​​the terminal or in the boarding area towards the gates”, stated Bogdan Despescu.

Additional control staff

The Secretary of State also stated that from March 31, the staff working at airports and seaports will be supplemented.

“Returning to the measures ordered at the level of airports and seaports, I mention the fact that, starting from March 31, compared to the personnel currently operating in these areas today, we will supplement the forces. The purpose of this additional force is to inform, guide, support passengers as well as detect those who want to take advantage of this facility to leave Romania illegally. At the same time, canine teams specialized in drug detection will act based on analysis activities or based on signals that we still have today”, Bogdan Despescu also declared.

Publisher: BP