Chișinău Eugen Doga International Airport (RMO) Airport Guide 2026 — The Code Changed, Check Your Booking

Last verified: September 2026.

🏢 1. A New Code, a New Name, and One Terminal from the 1970s

Three things about this airport have changed recently and none of them is the building.

The code. On 18 January 2024 the IATA code moved from KIV to RMO. KIV was a Soviet-era leftover derived from Kishinev, the Russian form of the city’s name. IATA offered three replacements — RMO, RMX and RMV — and RMO won because it reads as Republica Moldova. The ICAO code, LUKK, did not change and never needed to.

This matters practically, not just symbolically. Two and a half years on, KIV is still in circulation: legacy fare databases, older airline pages, printed guidebooks and a large share of the travel articles you will find by searching. If a booking engine only offers you KIV, it is almost certainly still routing to this airport — but check the airport name on the confirmation, not the code, and if you are searching for fares, search both. Our price-check tool works on either. TAROM published a passenger notice about the change specifically because bookings kept arriving under the dead code.

The name. In July 2025 the Moldovan government renamed the airport after the composer Eugen Doga (1937 – 3 June 2025), so its full official name is now Chișinău Eugen Doga International Airport. Signage and third-party databases are catching up unevenly. Nobody in Moldova calls it that in conversation; it is “the airport” or “Aeroportul Chișinău”.

The traffic. This is the number that explains everything else about the passenger experience. Chișinău handled 2,838,073 passengers in 2023, 4,142,418 in 2024, and 6,080,431 in 2025 — a 46.8% year-on-year increase, nearly two million extra people. The airport’s own reporting put 2025 at 106.8% of its annual plan.

The honest part

The terminal core dates from the 1970s, with a comprehensive modernisation completed in 2002: a renovated original building of about 7,600 m² plus a 4,270 m² annex. That is roughly 12,000 m² of terminal absorbing six million passengers a year. It works, but it is tight, and at peak — early morning Istanbul and Bucharest waves, summer Antalya departures — the check-in hall, security and the airside gate area all feel undersized at the same time. There is no rail link and there never has been. The main runway, 08/26, is 3,590 m, which is more than the fleet here needs.

The airport knows. In August 2025 it announced a 5,000 m² terminal expansion costed at 700 million lei, funded entirely from its own revenues: automated passport control (ABC) gates, a Fast Track lane, self-service bag drop, a mezzanine that doubles the height of the departures hall, expanded waiting areas, an enlarged business lounge, passenger showers and a covered terrace. As of March 2026 the project was still at the technical-documentation stage with the construction tender not yet issued, and the airport says works will be staged so operations are not interrupted. Read that plainly: through 2026 and into 2027, expect a live building site inside a terminal that was already full. Arrive earlier than the airport’s published minimum, especially on a summer morning.

Who actually flies here

Moldova’s flag carrier is gone. Air Moldova suspended all flights and ticket sales on 2 May 2023, and the Civil Aviation Authority revoked its Air Operator Certificate on 20 February 2024. The market that replaced it is a low-cost and privately-owned one:

• Wizz Air (including Wizz Air Malta, which by departure count is the single largest operator here) — the widest European network
• FlyOne and HiSky, the two Moldovan-owned carriers; FlyOne runs the longest route from Chișinău, to Dubai
• Turkish Airlines and Pegasus into Istanbul, which is the busiest city pair from Chișinău by a distance — roughly 35 weekly departures, against 26 to Bucharest and 22 to Antalya
• Plus TAROM, LOT, Lufthansa, Austrian, airBaltic, Aegean, SkyUp, flydubai, AZAL, El Al, SunExpress and Eurowings

Route databases count roughly 74 nonstop destinations in 33 countries across about two dozen airlines. That is a big network for a country of this size, and it exists because of the Moldovan diaspora rather than tourism — the busiest routes are labour-migration routes, and they fill in both directions.

Almost every one of these carriers prices cabin and checked bags separately, and Wizz Air in particular will charge you at the gate for a bag that does not fit its sizer. Check before you pack: Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, TAROM, LOT, airBaltic and Pegasus, or compare them side by side in the aifly baggage checker.

🛂 2. Moldova’s Own Entry Rules — 90 Days from First Entry

Moldova runs its own border regime and it is simpler than most of Europe’s. Get one thing straight before you read anything else: Moldova is not in the European Union and it is not in Schengen. Nothing you have read about EU border systems applies here. Your passport gets looked at and stamped by Moldovan officers, and the rules are Moldova’s.

Who does not need a visa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration publishes the list on evisa.gov.md. Holders of all passport types from every EU member state, plus the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Japan, Israel, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Georgia, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino and the Holy See, and from the CIS states, enter without a visa for a period of stay of up to 90 days during six months from the moment of first entry. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the UAE and Türkiye are also visa-exempt.

Read that stay rule literally, because it is not the Schengen rolling-window formula. The Moldovan clock is 90 days inside a six-month period counted from your first entry, not a 180-day window that rolls forward day by day. In practice most travellers will never come near the limit; if you are doing repeated short trips, count from your first stamp rather than assuming the arithmetic you use elsewhere. Overstaying is enforced with fines and possible expulsion.

The exemption most people miss. Nationals who would otherwise need a Moldovan visa can enter without one if they hold a residence permit or a valid visa (transit visas excluded) issued by an EU member state, a Schengen state, the United Kingdom, the United States or Canada — that is the Ministry’s own wording. It is a genuinely useful door. It is also a door whose scope has been adjusted by legislation, so if this is the basis on which you are travelling, confirm your own nationality against the current text on evisa.gov.md before you book. Do not take a list from a travel blog, including this one, as your authority on it.

If you do need a visa, Moldova runs an eVisa system, and the Ministry lists the consular fee at €40 for short-stay (C) and long-stay (D) visas and €20 for an airport transit (A) visa.

Passport validity and paperwork. The UK Foreign Office states that your travel document must have an expiry date at least three months after the date you plan to leave Moldova and at least one blank page, and that you must be able to demonstrate a return or onward ticket. Arrival is logged automatically. Cash or travellers’ cheques worth €10,000 or more must be declared, or the money can be seized on the way out.

On EU membership. Moldova has been an official EU candidate country since June 2022 and accession negotiations are live, with negotiating clusters opening through 2026. It is a real process and Moldovans will happily talk about it. It changes nothing for you at the border today. Moldova is not in Schengen, not in the EU, and not in the eurozone, and none of that will change on the timetable of your trip.

Money: the leu, and how much of it to carry

The currency is the Moldovan leu (MDL), plural lei. On 6 September 2026 the National Bank of Moldova’s official rate was €1 = 20.0380 MDL, $1 = 17.2682 MDL and £1 = 23.30 MDL. Rates move; treat those as the reference point, not a quote.

Airport exchange counters take a spread of a few per cent against city rates, which is normal and not a scandal — it is also not worth optimising. Change a starter amount at the airport, use a bank ATM in the city for the rest, and always decline the ATM’s offer to charge you in your home currency; taking the transaction in MDL is cheaper every time. Card acceptance in Chișinău is good: Bolt and Yandex Go take cards in-app, restaurants and supermarkets take cards, and the airport’s own shops do too. Cash still matters at village wineries, markets, small guesthouses and the odd rural taxi. A few hundred lei covers a day comfortably.

Spend your leftover lei before you reach the departures hall. The leu is not a currency you will easily change back at home.

🚌 3. Trolleybus 30, Minibus 165, and Why Most People Take a Bolt

Thirteen kilometres, roughly 25 minutes, and three ways to do it. There is no train.

How the public options actually work

Trolleybus 30 is the one to know about, because it does something unusually convenient: it runs from the terminal to Piața Marii Adunări Naționale, the main square in the centre of Chișinău, on overhead wires. If your hotel is central, that is a door-to-door public transport connection for the price of a coffee. The catch is frequency — it is the infrequent one of the two, so check a live tracker (eWay or Moovit both cover Chișinău) rather than walking out and hoping.

Route 165 is the workhorse: more departures, more crowded, less pleasant with two suitcases.

The fare is 7 lei, roughly €0.35, and it went up from 6 lei on 1 May 2026. You pay the driver or conductor. Some Moldovan travel pages still quote 6 lei — they are out of date. Carry small notes; nobody wants to break a 200.

The honest recommendation

Take a Bolt or Yandex Go. Both operate in Chișinău, both quote a fixed price in the app before you accept, both take cards, and the difference between roughly €5 and €0.35 is not worth managing luggage on a trolleybus after a 06:00 flight. Use public transport when you are travelling light, when you already know the city, or on the outbound leg when time pressure is lower.

If you take a rank taxi instead, agree the fare before the boot closes. There is no published airport tariff and meters are not universally used, which means every number is a quote you negotiate rather than a rate you can check afterwards.

🛋️ 4. One Lounge, Level 2, Past the Golden Jet

Chișinău has exactly one lounge and you should manage your expectations accordingly.

The Business Lounge is airside, past passport control and security. The route is well-signed but not obvious: turn left after Duty Free, take the escalator or stairs to Level 2, go past the Golden Jet restaurant, and it is on the right. It runs 24 hours, which genuinely matters at an airport with 05:00 departures and late-evening arrivals from Istanbul.

Access is by Priority Pass and the usual partner networks, by premium Visa and Mastercard products, and by paying at the door — the airport publishes €35 per passenger for walk-in access, although resellers list higher and published prices at any airport move. Inside: seating away from the gate crush, a buffet and soft drinks, a shower, and wireless charging. It is a competent regional business lounge, not a destination.

Is it worth it? At most airports of this size I would say no. At Chișinău I would say yes on a summer morning, because the airside seating in a 1970s terminal running at six million passengers a year is the specific thing you are buying your way out of. On a quiet winter afternoon, skip it and sit in the restaurant.

Two other things worth knowing airside and land: free Wi-Fi is offered for up to five hours within a three-day span, so do not burn your allowance on the arrival side if you have a long departure ahead. And the terminal has a staffed children’s play area with games and a soft playground — a real one, not a plastic corner.

🍽️ 5. Plăcinte, Duty-Free Wine, and What to Actually Carry Home

Airport catering here is better than the terminal’s age suggests, because Moldovan food travels well into a canteen format.

• Golden Jet — the main restaurant, airside past immigration. Moldovan dishes, soups, grilled meat, salads, beer, coffee.
• Airport Café — pastries, croissants, wraps, salads, and plăcinte, the Moldovan pie you should try before you leave.
• Plai — Moldovan cuisine, landside in the departures area.
• Green Café — landside in arrivals, useful if you are meeting someone.

Food is available around the clock on the first and second floors, which is unusual for an airport this size and reflects how early and late the schedule runs.

Eat plăcinte. They are thin, coiled or folded pastries, filled with sheep’s cheese and dill (cu brânză), cabbage, potato, pumpkin (cu dovleac) or sour cherries (cu vișine). They cost a few lei in the city and they are the single most Moldovan thing you can put in your hand. Beyond that: mămăligă (cornmeal polenta, served with sheep’s cheese, sour cream and crackling), sarmale (stuffed cabbage or vine leaves), zeamă (a sour chicken noodle soup) and must in autumn, the barely-fermented grape juice that appears around the harvest.

Duty free, and what is genuinely worth buying

Shopping is limited — a large Duty Free in departures and not much else. Do not plan to shop here.

But do buy wine, and buy it in the city rather than at the airport if you have the chance. Moldova’s own indigenous grapes are the point: Fetească Neagră (red, dark-fruited, the flagship), Fetească Albă and Fetească Regală (white), and Rara Neagră. A bottle that costs 100–200 lei in a Chișinău wine shop is a bottle you cannot buy at home at any price. Note the liquid limits: wine goes in checked baggage, not your cabin bag, unless you buy it airside after security. If you are flying a low-cost carrier without a hold bag included, factor that in before you fill a case — the baggage checker will tell you what your fare actually allows.

The other honest souvenir is divin, Moldovan brandy, and the walnut and rose-petal preserves sold in every market.

💡 6. Insider: Moldova Is a Wine Country with an Airport Attached

Nobody flies to Chișinău for Chișinău. They fly for what is 15 to 55 km outside it, and it is worth the trip.

The two cellars, and which one to choose

Mileștii Mici holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wine cellar by number of bottles: over 1.5 million bottles, stored along 55 km of underground galleries carved out of former limestone workings. The record was recognised in 2005; the first bottle went in in 1968, and the collection has grown every year since. You drive through the tunnels — actual roads, with signage — rather than walk them.

Cricova is 15 km north of Chișinău, closer and easier as a half-day trip. Its cellars sit 60–80 metres underground in a converted limestone mine, laid out as an underground city with named streets and avenues. The temperature holds at 12–14 °C year-round with 97–98% humidity, which is the entire reason the place works. Cricova has been a protected geographical indication for wine since a 2003 act of the Moldovan parliament.

Which one? Mileștii Mici if you want the record and the scale. Cricova if you want the theatre and a shorter drive. Both require a booked tour — you cannot turn up — and both mean a designated driver or, more sensibly, a driver you have hired for the day. This is the one occasion where a car for the day genuinely beats a taxi app.

Orheiul Vechi

About 55 km northeast of Chișinău, Orheiul Vechi (“Old Orhei”) is a cave monastery cut into a limestone cliff above a loop of the Răut river, surrounded by the villages of Trebujeni, Butuceni and Morovaia. The roughly 6,000-hectare complex has been on UNESCO’s Tentative List since 2007. It is the single most photographed landscape in Moldova and it earns it. Allow half a day including the drive; go early or late for the light.

Time it for the wine

National Wine Day — Ziua Națională a Vinului — takes over central Chișinău on the first weekend of October. In 2026 that is 3–4 October, the 25th edition. Dozens of producers pour in the main square, the tasting book comes with a reusable glass, and wineries across the country open up for the surrounding week. If your dates are flexible at all, move them to this weekend. Book accommodation early; it is the one time of year Chișinău sells out.

Two practical closing calls

Fly in the shoulder seasons. May–June and September–October give you harvest, the wine festival and comfortable weather. July and August are hot, and they are also when the Antalya and diaspora waves make the terminal its most uncomfortable.

Give yourself more time at the airport than the size suggests. Six million passengers through a 1970s footprint, with expansion works ahead of it, is not an airport where you arrive 70 minutes before a flight. Two hours for a European departure, more in summer.

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