Low-cost airline Blue Air said its turnover rose 20% to €140-150 million in 2009, but well short of €170 million estimate.

“We still don’t have the exact profit numbers, but it will surely not exceed few hundreds euro at best”, said Adrian Ionascu (photo), chief executive of Blue Air.

The airline carried 1.7 million passengers last year, with an average load factor of 75%.

For 2010, Blue Air said it expects 30% increase in number of passengers to 2.2 million. “In 2010, we will open two new airbases, in Cyprus and Sibiu. The new routes we will introduce this year will be Bucharest-Dublin and Bucharest-Florence and we will add some new destinations from Sibiu”, Ionascu added.

The airline currently employs 830 and plans to increase headcount by 30%”. We plan to recruit 200 persons in 2010, mainly cabin crew staff (around 30-50 pilots) and engineers”, said Ionascu.

Blue Air is a 100% Romanian capital company authorized to operate regular internal and international flights, charter and cargo flights.

The company’s fleet includes nine Boeing 737: three 737-300 series, two 737-400 series, one 737-500 and three 737-800 Next Generation.