Romania’s state-owned airline Tarom will operate four or five flights a week to China and the U.S., given that there is demand on the market, the company’s commercial director Sorin Georgescu said on Wednesday after the event organized to present the second Boeing 737-800 aircraft leased by Tarom.

The state airline received the first Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft last week.

“The flights announced to New York and Beijing can be cost-effective. There is demand on the market. However, we will not be able to operate only two flights a week. The minimum will be four or five flights per week in both directions, if not one per day,” Georgescu said, reports local Mediafax.

The flight frequency is important in the context of existing competition. For example, there are two or three flights per day from Istanbul and Frankfurt to the U.S, he explained.

Tarom representatives are currently working on getting the slots to open the routes to China and the U.S., said Transport Minister Razvan Cuc.

The two new Boeing aircraft will increase the airline’s transport capacity by 20%, according to the minister. They are both leased for 10 years, replacing the two A310 models removed from the airline's fleet last year.

Tarom recorded losses last year for the ninth consecutive year, company CEO Eugen Davidoiu said last week. He wants the company to reach break-even this year.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Mt.gov.ro)