Air France-KLM (AFKLM) airline is set to introduce new flights on the domestic market in a bid to strengthen its position, after reaching an around 20% market share as a result of the completion of the merger between French carrier Air France and Dutch company KLM.
"We are looking at the area of Transylvania, but we haven't made any decisions yet. These flights cannot be introduced earlier than next year's summer season," said Alexandru Dobrescu, country manager with Air France-KLM Romania.
Dobrescu became country manager of AFKLM in April after the merger between the two companies was finalised on the domestic market. At that time, Rodolphe Lenoir, the then country manager of Air France Romania, moved to Budapest to coordinate the commercial activities of AFKLM for Eastern European countries, according to the information published by Business Magazin.
As a result, the carrier reached a market share of around 20% on the Romanian market, and now ranks second, after TAROM, according to its own estimates.
Air France-KLM has an average 80% occupancy rate on flights to and from Romania and is considering increasing the frequency of flights to Amsterdam and Paris.
Last year, air traffic on the Bucharest-Paris route increased by around 15%, maintaining its upward trend during the first few months of this year.
The last time the company introduced new flights on the Bucharest-Paris route was in 2005, when it also raised its capacity, replacing its Boeing 737 aircraft with an Airbus 320. Air France currently operates (code sharing with TAROM) five daily flights from Bucharest to Paris (three with Air France and two with the national carrier), while KLM operates three daily flights from Bucharest to the Dutch capital.
Both the airports in Amsterdam and Paris are transit airports, so that a large part of passengers choose to fly with Air France-KLM, not only to destinations in France or the Netherlands.
AFKLM representatives are not just considering other Romanian regions for new flight routes, but also other cities in France.
Although the Romanian market is registering constant growth each year, it will have to progress on several levels to catch up with other regional countries.
For instance, the share of online sales in the total tickets sold should increase.
Dobrescu believes that on the routes to and from Romania, the company registers both business and leisure traffic, however it is difficult to make a precise distinction.
The regular airline market is expected to reach around 360m euros this year, from 305m euros last year, according to IATA Romania.
"The Romanian market is growing by around 15-20% (...) there's still room for growth," believes Dobrescu.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
