Carpatair, the second largest airline operator on the Romanian market, saw a 27% turnover increase in the first half of this year, to 38.7 million euros.

"As expected, the liberalisation of the market as a result of Romania joining the European community, led to a rise in the number of flights on the Romanian market," said Paula Ardelean, vice-president of the sales & marketing department of Carpatair.

If the company also continues to maintain the same growth rate into the second half of the year, it will exceed the estimated figure of 83 million euros for this year. Carpatair ended 2006 with a turnover worth 73 million euros, up 35% against last year.

In the first six months of the year, Carpatair transported 252,500 passengers, 21.5% more compared with the same period last year. In 2006, the total number of passengers transported by the airline operator stood at 500,000.

In the first six months of this year, Carpatair launched three new routes, with the company now operating 312 flights each week, a 6% increase on 2006. The company introduced three new destinations in spring, Bari (Italy), Athens (Greece) and Craiova.

"These three new routes have a frequency of three flights per week, each", specified Carpatair representatives.

The new routes introduced this spring complement the five destinations launched last year: Suceava, Satu Mare, Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany) and Lviv (Ukraine).

During the January-June 2007 period, the average occupancy rate of Carpatair stood at 62%.

"This percentage is somewhere within the average margin of 60-65% and is specific for regional companies that operate as hubs," explained Carpatair representatives.

Carpatair's hub is Timisoara, with the company positioned on the market as a business travel company. The company not only operates regular flights, but also charter flight