Chișinău Airport runway deterioration raises safety concerns

The main runway (08/26) at Chișinău International Airport, built in 1986, is now 40 years old—well beyond its design life of roughly 20 years. Specialists from the Runway 08 website warn that its condition is “disastrous” and call it “the elephant in the room” for flight safety.

Only 580 m of the 3,590 m runway were rebuilt in 2017, and a secondary runway 09/27 is being used temporarily with operational restrictions. Full‑scale rehabilitation plans were first postponed because of the COVID‑19 pandemic in 2020 and later cancelled after the 2022 Ukraine war closed Moldovan airspace. While authorities have turned attention to terminal expansion, a cargo hub at Mărculești, and new rail connections, the critical repairs to runway 08/26 remain unresolved, keeping the airport’s safety at risk.