Blue Air, the biggest Romanian private-held airline company, owned by businessman Nelu Iordache, which stopped operating domestic flights on August 10th because of the low aircraft occupancy, says increasing ticket prices would not have been a solution to maintain domestic routes.
"Had we boosted fares, we would have been removed from the low-cost market we are operating on. The majority of those flying with us would not have had access to tickets any more, and our target is to carry as many passengers at low cost fares as possible," says Florentina Ivan, Blue Air's communication manager.
The airline last year approached the domestic flights market very aggressively with prices close to those operated by railway operator CFR, to whom it became a rival to be reckoned with.
Blue Air decided to drop flights on the Arad, Timişoara, and Cluj-Napoca routes to Bucharest and back, and to supplement flights to Italy and France, for which demand is on the rise.
The low-cost operator last year posted 140-150 million euros in turnover and carried 1.7 million passengers, similarly to state-operated Tarom.
Blue Air, the biggest Romanian private-held airline company, owned by businessman Nelu Iordache, which stopped operating domestic flights on August 10th because of the low aircraft occupancy, says increasing ticket prices would not have been a solution to maintain domestic routes.
"Had we boosted fares, we would have been removed from the low-cost market we are operating on. The majority of those flying with us would not have had access to tickets any more, and our target is to carry as many passengers at low cost fares as possible," says Florentina Ivan, Blue Air's communication manager.
The airline last year approached the domestic flights market very aggressively with prices close to those operated by railway operator CFR,
