Blue Air rises to over 75% of Tarom’s traffic

Blue Air, the low-cost airline controlled by businessman Nelu Iordache, has risen to 77% of Tarom traditional carrier’s traffic in H1, while in late 2008 it had only 58% of the passengers of the biggest airline in Romania. State-owned Tarom, with 298m-euro turnover last year, in H1 transported almost 704,000 passengers, down 14.2% from the same period of last year, as aircraft occupancy rate stood at 49.9%, 11.2% lower than in H1, 2008, according to data provided by the Association of European Airlines. By comparison, Blue Air transported 540,000 passengers from January to June, the company said last week. The two Romanian companies last year transported 3 million passengers, namely 33% of the overall traffic registered in Romania (9 million passengers reported by Romania’s Airports Association). "We are not competing with Tarom or other traditional company on the market; we are competing with low-cost operators, with a different passenger segment from Tarom. It’s true, though, that Tarom is trying, through its prices, to target another passenger category, as well," said Adrian Ionascu, Blue Air general manager.