Brasov Airport (GHV): Flights & Getting to Town

Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport is the one with the code GHV (not “GBV” - that’s a common mix-up), sitting in Ghimbav about 12 km northwest of Brasov. It opened on 15 June 2023, and for Brasov-Bran-Poiana triangle trips it can finally beat the old default of landing at Bucharest and grinding up the DN1. Once you’re through arrivals, the cheap ride into town is the RATBV A1 express bus (5 lei), and the easy ride is a taxi, Bolt or a pre-booked transfer door to door.

This page is the last mile plus a realistic look at who flies here. If you’re still choosing which Romanian runway to aim at for the whole trip, start with which airport to fly into for Romania; if Brasov is already booked, what to do in Brasov and where to stay in Brasov pick up after you clear the terminal.

Why GHV exists at all

Until mid-2023, almost every foreign visitor to Brasov, Bran or Poiana Brasov flew into Bucharest Otopeni (OTP) and spent two to three hours on the road or rail corridor north. GHV is Romania’s first purpose-built international airport in about fifty years - a single concrete runway of 2,820 m by 45 m in Ghimbav, run under Brașov County Council. The airport’s own about page puts the distance to the city at roughly 12 km, which is the whole point: you’re already inside the Brasov-Bran-Poiana triangle instead of south of the mountains.

Passenger numbers are still small next to OTP or Cluj, but it’s no longer a ghost field. Brașov County Council reported 337,353 passengers in 2025, up about 48% on the 227,900 of 2024. That volume is enough for a real Wizz network plus summer charters, and not enough to pretend it’s a hub. Treat GHV as a useful regional gateway, not a replacement for every Romania itinerary.

Who flies here

Wizz Air is the backbone. On a typical summer board you’ll see Western European cities such as London Luton, Budapest, Dortmund, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Rome Fiumicino, Katowice and Warsaw - the exact list and days of week move with the airline timetable, so always confirm on Wizz and on the live board at brasovairport.ro. Seasonal and charter operators (Animawings, HiSky and others) fill summer resort routes such as Antalya or Heraklion; those come and go with the holiday packages.

Winter 2026 has also seen new Wizz destinations go on sale (Spain, Moldova and Karlsruhe among the names). Then came something firmer than a route announcement: on 11 August 2026 Wizz named GHV its tenth Romanian base, stationing an aircraft here from 17 December 2026, with Valencia opening on 3 November, Chisinau on 17 December, Barcelona and Karlsruhe on 18 December and Madrid on 20 December. A based aircraft is the better signal of the two, because it is what holds a schedule together between seasons. Even so, “announced” and “on sale” are not the same as “already flying in the week you need”, so buy against live availability, not against a blog screenshot. For comparing GHV against OTP or Cluj before you commit, compare flights into Romanian airports and then check whether your city actually has a GHV option that week.

One practical catch: GHV rewards travellers whose first nights are in Brasov or the nearby mountains. If your trip is really Bucharest, the Black Sea or northern Transylvania around Cluj, a Brasov landing just adds a detour. Flying into one airport and out of another still works the other way round - land GHV, leave from OTP or Cluj - when the fare maths line up.

RATBV A1: the 5-lei ride into town

The city operator RATBV runs express line A1 between Gara CFR Brașov station, the central Livada Poștei stop, Bartolomeu and the airport terminal. When the line launched with the airport in June 2023 it was sold as a fixed-hour express; the published PDF valid from 10 September 2025 still shows a simple hourly pattern: departures from the Gara terminal roughly every hour from 06:00 to 22:00, with a gap at 19:00 (18:00 then straight to 20:00), and departures from the airport stop back toward the station on the hour from 07:00 through 23:00, with no 20:00 run (19:00 then straight to 21:00). Read the sheet for the airport stop itself, not the one for Targ Auto a few minutes further down the line - that board runs ten minutes later, and those ten minutes are the difference between catching the last bus and sleeping in the terminal. Traffic can eat the timetable, and RATBV updates PDFs when the airport hours change, so don’t trust yesterday’s printout - glance at the stop board or ratbv.ro on your day.

The fare is the normal urban ticket: 5 lei, valid 90 minutes on all urban lines (including Poiana Brasov). Older launch articles still floating online say 4 lei - that figure is out of date against the current RATBV tariff page. Pay with a bank card on the validator, through the 24pay app, or with a ticket bought at RATBV points; don’t count on buying from the driver at the kerb after a late Wizz.

Landing on a Friday doesn’t make it free, either. RATBV has run Vinerea Verde - free travel every Friday - since 3 April 2026, but Ghimbav is not among the localities the scheme covers, and the rules state that standard fares apply on routes running beyond the included zones. Budget the 5 lei whichever day you arrive.

If the roads are clear the ride into the useful centre stops is about half an hour; Livada Poștei is the stop for anyone walking into the Old Town, and Gara CFR is the one if you’re continuing by train the same day (for example on toward Sibiu or back toward Bucharest - see Bucharest to Brasov for the corridor once you’re on the rail network). Bags are fine if you can manage stairs; if you’re travelling with ski kit for Poiana or a pile of hard suitcases, skip to a car.

There’s no rail link from the airport itself. Anything that looks like a train connection means A1 (or a taxi) into Gara Brasov first.

Taxi, Bolt, or a booked car

For most tired arrivals, a metered taxi or a Bolt is the sensible default: about 20 to 30 minutes to central Brasov when the roads are clear. There is no official flat airport fare into the Old Town or the station area, and nobody publishes a dependable one: a licensed cab runs the meter at the city’s regulated per-kilometre rate, and a ride-hailing app quotes you a price before you accept it. Go by the number you are actually shown on the day, keep a little cash in lei as backup, and ask whether the car takes cards as you get in. Poiana Brasov and Bran sit farther out and cost more; if either is your first bed, a pre-booked transfer usually beats improvising at the rank.

A fixed-price transfer booked before you fly is the lowest-stress option after a late landing, with children, or when you want the driver waiting with a name board. You can book a GHV transfer to your hotel in advance and walk straight out. Ride-hailing needs data the moment you land - if you don’t already have an eSIM sorted, fix that before departure rather than hunting airport Wi-Fi with a dead phone.

GHV versus OTP for a Brasov trip

This is the decision that actually saves or wastes a day.

• Fly GHV when your first base is Brasov, Poiana, Bran or the Saxon villages within a comfortable day-trip radius, and there’s a workable flight from your city that week. The 12 km hop beats any OTP transfer.
• Fly OTP when GHV has no sensible ticket price, you’re combining the capital with the castles, or you’re flying into one airport and out of another across the country. From Otopeni you can still go straight to Brasov by shuttle or private transfer without sleeping in Bucharest - the OTP last-mile page covers that corridor in Bucharest airport to the city.
• Fly Cluj when the trip is really northern Transylvania; Brasov then becomes a later rail or road day, not your arrival city.

Don’t pick GHV just because it’s “new”. Pick it when the timetable and your first hotel agree.

Before you land

Land already knowing three things: your hotel neighbourhood (Old Town, the station area or Schei), whether A1 still runs when you touch down (if your flight lands close to the last bus, you need a Plan B), and how you’ll pay (card/24pay for the bus, card or lei for a cab). If you’re renting a car for Bran, the Transfagarasan or a multi-day loop, picking it up at GHV is often simpler than hauling bags into town and back out - just budget the usual airport surcharge.

Clear arrivals, take the A1 if you’re travelling light and the timetable fits, take a car if you’re not, and you’ll be in Brasov while people who landed at OTP are still staring at the DN1 traffic map. That’s the whole argument for GHV in one sentence.