Romanian airline Carpatair pulls out of Timisoara after long running disputes over unfair competition with Wizz Air

After 13 years of using it as a hub, Romanian airline Carpatair is pulling out of the Timisoara airport. The airline has been involved in long running disputes with the airport management and budget airline Wizz Air over operating charges at Timisoara airport. Carpatair has diverted more and more flights away from its Timisoara hub in recent years, as charges rose and the airline faced increasing competition from Wizz Air. At present, Carpatair continues to accuse Timisoara airport of breaking competition laws and favoring Wizz Air, while the airport's management maintains that Wizz Air and Carpatair pay similar charges and Wizz Air representatives say that the matter should be resolved by the European Commission. “Maybe now Carpatair can accept that the appropriate forum for these situations is the European Commission, to which Wizz Air has submitted all necessary economic details to prove that all agreements between Wizz Air and Timişoara airport meet market investor principles and have brought substantial benefits and significant increases in the number of passengers at the airport,” said the communications director of Wizz Air Daniel de Carvalho earlier, quoted by Business Magazin. Carpatair was founded in 2000 by retired MIG pilot Nicolae Petrov. At the time, air travel in Romania was very different, with virtually all international flights running in and out of Bucharest and no budget airlines flying to Romanian destinations. The decision to use Timisoara airport as a hub was a success and led to the revival of regional Romanian airports, according to Carpatair vice- president Paula Ardelean. Around two weeks ago, Timisoara Airport Director Daniel Idolu said Carpatair has debts of RON 3.3 million (some EUR 760,000) and EUR 1.9 million with the airport. Carpatair challenged the amounts owed on the grounds that the airline was improperly billed to favor Wizz Air, according to local news agency Mediafax. Idolu said that the problems go back to 2011, when Carpatair accused the airport operators of giving excessive discounts to Wizz Air, and since then a number of legal processes have been initiated, against both the airport and Wizz Air. The airport director also said that Carpatair has reduced the number of routes it operates in the last few years and seen revenues fall, which although bad for Timisoara Airport, is not the fault of of the airport management. Carpatair made similar accusations against Cluj-Napoca Airport in 2011 and stopped using the airport as a hub. The complaint also concerned Wizz Air, and the same claims of an airport giving Wizz Air an unfair advantage. editor@romania-insider.com