Flying to Craiova: CRA or Otopeni

Craiova International (CRA)

Craiova International Airport sits on Calea București, about eight kilometres east of Piața Mihai Viteazul. Its IATA code is CRA, its ICAO code LRCV, and it is run by the Dolj County Council. The terminal is small and quick — from the aircraft door to the kerb is minutes.

Who flies here. Wizz Air operates most of the scheduled network, with Animawings (Istanbul) and SunExpress (Antalya) adding routes. The destination list has included London, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Naples, Bari, Treviso, Venice, Memmingen, Athens and others, running to roughly fifteen to seventeen destinations in seven or eight countries depending on the season and on who is counting.

A warning about route lists, including ours. The aggregator sites disagree with each other on how many destinations CRA has, and the Wikipedia table is years out of date — it still lists charter carriers and a Ryanair exit from 2018. Seasonal routes start and stop on specific dates. Check the airline's own booking site, not a list. We are not going to print a route table that will be wrong by spring.

From the airport into town

• Taxi or app. The normal way in. It is a short drive east to west along Calea București, and the app shows the price before you accept.
• Car hire. Rental desks operate from the terminal. If your trip includes Oltenia — Târgu Jiu, Horezu, Tismana, Segarcea — you need a car anyway, and picking it up here rather than in town saves a step.
• Booked transfer. Worth it for a group with luggage, or for a late arrival. See the offers below.

There is no dedicated airport rail link; the city is small enough that there does not need to be.

Bucharest Otopeni (OTP)

Henri Coandă International, north of Bucharest, is Romania's main airport, with the full-service carriers and most of the low-cost network. It is roughly 230 km from Craiova by road — the A1 motorway then DN65 and DN6.

The drive is the good news. Unlike the route north into the Carpathians, this one crosses flat country with no mountain pass and no valley to queue in, so it takes about what the map says even at the weekend. See getting here.

From Otopeni to Craiova

1. Train, changing at București Nord for the line through Videle and Roșiori. Otopeni has its own station next to the airport. You arrive in the centre of Craiova rather than on a ring road.
2. Private transfer, the most comfortable option and, for three or four people with luggage, not much dearer per head than anything else. The sensible choice after a late landing.
3. Hire car. All the big firms are at Otopeni, and the drive is simple.
4. Coach. Cheapest, slowest, and it drops you at a terminal.

Which airport?

If Wizz Air flies your route to CRA, it wins outright — you land eight kilometres from your hotel instead of 230, and you save roughly four hours each way plus the cost of a transfer.

If it does not, Otopeni is the answer and the drive down is part of the trip. Weigh the fare difference against four hours on the road and a car you may not otherwise have needed.

The mistake worth avoiding is not comparing at all. Checking CRA takes thirty seconds and is the single biggest saving available on a Craiova trip from abroad.