Airlines in Romania

[CrazySerb]

I wonder, how did Romania's TAROM operate in these times....how big was its fleet back then and to how many destinations did it fly? Did it carry more passengers than it does now?


Something from JAT archives....

First DC10-30 arrives



By thorough and comprehensive monitoring of the market and competition, Yugoslav Airlines concluded that the European and Mediterranean sky was already divided and exploited to its maximum and thus new breakthroughs were no longer possible. JAT believed that it could count on 3 -5 million passengers annually on the existing market, a level which it already had achieved by the mid 1970s. Intercontinental operations appeared as the sole possibility for further expansion. Considering the positive experience gained from establishing, primarily charter services to Australia, the United States and Canada, JAT concluded that these routes were worth pursuing. With a view of modernising intercontinental operations, broadening capacities and reducing costs, a decision was made to purchase wide body aircraft.

Comparative studies were carried out in 1976 and 1977 and consultations and negotiations were held with aircraft manufacturers. JAT was considering two models of aircraft: the three engine Douglas DS10-30 and the four engine Boieng B747SP. The shorter body Boeing had a greater range than the classic B747 and when fully loaded was capable of flying from Belgrade to Singapore. Therefore, the obvious choice for the airline was the B747SP and the decision was made to purchase the aircraft. However, just before signing the contract a situation occurred redolent of the late 1960s when instead of the selected aircraft another was bought. Thus, instead JAT opted for the Douglas DC10-30 instead of the Boeing B747SP. Despite a decision by the JAT Workers Council to buy the Boeing, the contract for the first DC10 was signed on June 15, 1977, and for a second on February 2, 1978. JAT had many headaches after choosing the aircraft. Immediately after singing the second contract a strike broke out within the aircraft manufacturer and JAT’s delivery dates were pushed back by nearly 10 months. This meant that JAT would have to make major changes to its 1978 summer season.

After a lengthy wait, the first JAT DC10-30 registered YU-AMA and christened Nikola Tesla, landed at Belgrade Airport on December 12, 1978. With the arrival of a 280 seat aircraft capable of carrying more than 4 tonnes (the quantity annually transported by JAT at the time), along with great comfort and speed, JAT could begin intensely focusing on its long haul operations. Three days later JAT operated the first flight with the DC10 on the service Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljana-New York. The DC10 represented great progress, not only in terms of expanding capacities. The aircraft had put forth quite new demands and elevated standards with regard to passenger service. This meant that there would be 13 cabin crew members on board, while the 12 seat first class cabin had revolving seats, tables and allowed 4 passengers to have their meal with each other as if they were in a restaurant. JAT’s DC10s were also equipped with earphones for each passenger, 10 music channels and films were screened in Serbo-Croatian and English.

The second JAT DC10 named Edvard Rusjan and marked YU-AMB arrived on May 16, 1979. Jat would operate with 4 DC10’s by the end of the 1980s. YU-AMB would later operate for Jat Airways until 2005 when it was finally decided to end its carrier in Nimes, France.

[tomis3]

Interesting....Tarom acquired back in '74 I believe a couple of Boeing 707s. This was pretty much the extent of our collaboration with US aerospace companies (remember...Moscow didn't look too fondly upon Warsaw Pact countries doing business with the evil West...and Romania, as far as I know, the only one to buy Western planes during the Cold war.

In terms of flights, Tarom flew to both NY and Chicago in the States, and to a couple of places in Canada...Toronto and Montreal maybe...I don't remember...my memory is failing me. Cosmin should know more.


Tarom B-707 Safety Card.

[tomis3]

I found these gems at the Romanian Spotters forum: An Antonov 124 comes to pick up a couple (or is it three?) of Pumas headed for the United Arab Emirates.

Photos by: anAV8r





http://romanian-spotters.forumer.ro/...2009-t2316.htm

[MacHaggis]

We still get the An-124 land at Long Beach, CA airport once in a while, delivering aircraft components.

In the past, they delivered Boeing 717 parts, I'm not sure what they do now.

A few years ago, I was able to get in the cockpit of one. It was like traveling back in time to the 1950s. Very ancient technology, but they are BIG!

[Cosmin]

I get what you're trying to say (you'll find pretty much the same technology in a 747-200F), but it's not 1950's technology... more like 1980s. At least that's the overall feeling the cockpit has, I'm not talking about the actually technology behind some of the instruments, for example, cause in many cases that's even older than the 1950s.

[tomis3]

The Antonov 124...crew of 12.

[CrazySerb]

Originally Posted by Cosmin

Passenger numbers by carrier (2008)

1) TAROM - 1.9 million pax
2) Blue Air - 1.2 million pax
3) Wizz Air - 900,000 pax (to and from Romania); 5.9 million (overall)
4) Carpatair - 620,000 pax

These numbers are very much similar to the passenger numbers of largest ex-YU airlines (serving similar-sized population to that of Romania) for 2008 :

1) Croatia Airlines - 1,9 million passengers
2) Jat Airways - 1,4 million
3) Adria Airways - 1,3 million
4) Montenegro Airlines - ~500,000

[MacHaggis]

Originally Posted by Cosmin

I get what you're trying to say (you'll find pretty much the same technology in a 747-200F), but it's not 1950's technology... more like 1980s. At least that's the overall feeling the cockpit has, I'm not talking about the actually technology behind some of the instruments, for example, cause in many cases that's even older than the 1950s.

Cosmin,

That cockpit looks a lot more modern that what I saw... FYI, the aircraft that I looked at was a Ukrainian aircraft on lease to some UK outfit. That particular plane was on a humanitarian mission and was loading supplies at the airport.

Watching the An-124 take off under heavy load can be a dramatic experience, however... extremely shallow climb rates.

[High Mileager]

Compania aeriana low-cost, Wizz Air, va opera noi zboruri de doua ori pe saptamana din Bucuresti spre Catania, incepand cu 21 septembrie si spre Bologna, incepand cu 28 octombrie.

In ultimele 12 luni, Wizz Air a transportat 6,8 milioane de pasageri, iar in prezent flota companiei este compusa din 26 de aeronave Airbus A320, care opereaza de la 11 baze din Polonia, Ungaria, Romania, Bulgaria, Cehia si Ucraina.

Daily Business

[High Mileager]

Cool news!..Starting 25oct2009,Blue air will fly SBZ - STN..

from their website..

Starting 29th of July 2009, you can buy plane tickets for Blue Air’s winter schedule (25th of October 2009 – 27th of March 2010) on the following routes:

Larnaca – Bucharest - Larnaca : Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Rome – Bucharest - Rome : Daily flights,
Paphos – Bucharest - Paphos : Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
Thessaloniki – Bucharest - Thessaloniki : Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
Thessaloniki – Paphos - Thessaloniki : Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
Malaga – Bucharest - Malaga : Thursdays and Sundays
London Stansted – Bucharest - London Stansted : Thursdays and Sundays
Paris – Bucharest - Paris : Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays
Lisbon – Bucharest – Lisbon : Mondays and Fridays
London Stansted – Sibiu - London Stansted : Thursdays and Sundays
Milano (Bergamo) – Bucharest - Milano (Bergamo) : Sundays
Lyon – Bucharest – Lyon: Fridays
Barcelona – Bucharest – Barcelona : Tuesdays and Sundays
Bruxelles – Bucharest – Bruxelles : Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
Madrid – Bucharest – Madrid : Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays
Madrid – Sibiu – Madrid : Wednesdays and Sundays
Valencia- Bucharest – Valencia: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays
Valencia – Arad – Valencia : Tuesdays and Sundays
Bologna – Bucharest – Bologna : Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays

The price of tickets starts from 20 euros*/segment including taxes.

[tomis3]

Interesting video....spattered bird guts on the windshield plus Cluj's "impeccable" runway.

[YU-AMC]

Originally Posted by CrazySerb

I wonder, how did Romania's TAROM operate in these times....how big was its fleet back then and to how many destinations did it fly? Did it carry more passengers than it does now?


Something from JAT archives....

Back in those days Aviogenex had better fleet when you compare it to Tarom.Both modern and newer. Now you have Romanian low cost carrier Blue air that have newer fleet and modern than Jat. It is nice to see how times can change. Quite a nice flashback memory. I don't care, I am happy for Romanian.

[Cosmin]

Entering aviation Heaven...

Ryanair 737-800 landing at Frankfurt - Hahn

[tomis3]

btw. Cosmin....my FS9 setup looks pretty similar to that photo.

[Cosmin]

Yes, but do you have vortices?

[tomis3]

Originally Posted by Cosmin

Yes, but do you have vortices?

I don't...but with some add-ons I've actually made FS9 look pretty decent.

[Cosmin]

Blue Air SAAB 2000 (leased from Carpatair) landing at Suceava


Approaching Cluj oboard Wizz Air Flight 776


SMURD Eurocopter EC-135 at Cluj


Cockipt of a Blue Air 737-300

[High Mileager]

IMO Blueair livery in navy blue is much better..the light blue looks kinda cheap.

Apparently Wizzair wants to send some of our skiers to Alps..

Wizz Air a anuntat lansarea primelor zboruri din Romania spre Grenoble, cu plecari atat din Bucuresti, cat si din Cluj-Napoca.

Cursele vor fi operate o data pe saptamana, in perioada 12 decembrie 2009 – 27 martie 2010.

Noile zboruri fac parte din planul de dezvoltare al companiei pe piata din Romania, planuri care includ alocarea celei de-a treia aeronave bazei din Bucuresti si dublarea capacitatii de transport din Romania.

Tarifele pentru un singur zbor, cu toate taxele incluse, pornesc de la 220 RON pentru cursele din Cluj-Napoca si de la 260 RON pentru cursele din Bucuresti.

Sursa: 9AM

[Cosmin]

Grenoble...

Originally Posted by High Mileager

IMO Blueair livery in navy blue is much better..the light blue looks kinda cheap.

Yeah, I know. That SAAB 2000 is leased from Carpatair so they want to keep the livery as white as possible, that why they plastered those blue titles. Btw, Carpatair's livery sucks too.

[High Mileager]

Originally Posted by Cosmin

Grenoble...

Yeap..Alps capital.Trying to attract tourists from wherever they can..