MyAir, one of the leading domestic low-cost airlines expects to see the number of passengers double this year as a result of the increase in the number of flights to Italy and the introduction of flights from Bucharest to Spain and France, says Antonio Iervolino, the MyAir representative in Romania.
"Last year, MyAir flew 220,000 passengers on the Romania-Italy route. Given the rising number of destinations, we expect to see the number of passengers double," said Antonio Iervolino.
If the Italian firm's estimates are correct, MyAir may carry 440,000 passengers this year, a larger number of passengers than the current largest low-cost operator on the market Blue Air, which flew 400,000 passengers last year.
The figures posted by the company for the first two months of the year are positive and indicate the airline may reach its target. As a result of the newly introduced routes, Romanian air traffic increased by 70% during the January-February period of this year against the same period for 2006, with the number of passengers seeing a 10% rise in the wake of EU integration.
At present, the company operates a total of 31 flights per week, all to Italian cities, with the number of flights expected to exceed 60 by the end of the year.
As of March 15, the company introduced 3 weekly flights to Bari, and in June will introduce 3 brand new destinations, Barcelona, Paris and Ibiza.
Besides MyAir, the low-costs airlines Blue Air and Wizz Air also operate routes to Barcelona. From Romania only Blue Air operates a route to Paris, while Blue Air, Sky Europe and Wizz Air all operate routes to Italy, according to the information provided on the companies' websites.
The introduction of the new routes has tightened competition between the airlines operating domestically, as they are offering several low price alternatives to the same destinations.
MyAir is also considering introducing an internal flight, but as yet has not made any definite decisions. Nevertheless, MyAir is the only company to have voiced an intention of operating internal flights.
The number of low-cost airline operators is rising domestically. Besides the already present companies, Germanwings is to enter the market on March 25, by introducing a Bucharest-Kohl route, whilst Spanish airline company Click Air will launch flights to and from Romania starting in May.
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