Italian air operator Club Air this year has started operating 42 regular weekly flights, after the liberalisation of air traffic between Romania and Italy. The strategy change will bolster air traffic between Romania and Italy by 20%, from 150,000 passengers last year. "We want to fly from cities other than the capital because particularly Moldova and the western part of the country, are very alluring for Italian entrepreneurs. But we are also noticing the fact that Romanians want to travel to Italy because they have family ties, commercial ties and labour and business opportunities there," stated Bruno Tercatin, Club Air chairman.
Club Air was set up in 2002 by the Italian travel operator, Valsole Viaggi, which specialises in carrying passengers to and from Italy and Romania. "Our relation with Romania started ahead of the revolution, when we were a tour operator and operated charter flights to the Black Sea coast. At the beginning, we rented Tarom aircraft and we operated charter flights until 2002," explained Tercatin. Originally emerging as a company supposed to service the Romanian market, Club Air has gradually expanded to other countries in the region, such as the Republic of Moldova, Albania and the Ukraine.
"We are looking at the Eastern European market and at the Balkan region because this is the market where we want to grow, but Romania remains the core business of our company. Why are we, and other companies in general, getting involved in the expansion of operations in Romania? Because Romania has the second largest population after Poland of all the countries in the former so-called communist Europe. Moreover, it is a country that is fond of travelling due to Romanians'' affinities for foreign languages and the discovery of new cultures," says Tercatin.
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