Tarom boasts 61% occupancy rate in first half

Tarom airline budgeted turnover of approximately 236 million euros for this year, up 6% against last year, say the company’s representatives.
The company saw its number of passengers rising by 7% in first half of the year, compared with the similar period of last year. The biggest increase was registered on the segment of domestic regular flights, 16% against the corresponding period of last year. “The rise derived from the increase in capacity, on one hand, and from the general upward trend on Romanian air transportation market, on the other hand,” say TAROM representatives.
In the first six months, the company’s results were in line with those set in the budget, with a profit worth 787,000 euros, at a corresponding turnover amounting to 102 million euros, say the company’s representatives. For the similar period of last year TAROM posted turnover amounting to 99 million euros, and losses topping 5 million euros.
“In the first half, the company had an occupancy rate of approximately 61%, seeing a slight increase against the similar period of last year,” say TAROM officials. The destinations with the highest occupancy rate were Madrid, London, Tel Aviv, Larnaka, Dubai, Athens, Salonika, Timisoara, Cluj and Iasi. At the same time, TAROM registers a smaller number of passengers for the flights to Beirut, Munich, Budapest, Targu Mures and Sibiu.
TAROM operates international flights, with departures from Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu, Iasi and Timisoara to over 30 cities worldwide, including Damascus, Athens, Dubai, Rome, Tel Aviv and Toronto. Fifty percent of TAROM’s passengers are Romanians, add the company’s representatives.
The company operates domestic flights on the following routes: Bucharest – Timisoara, Bucharest – Cluj, Oradea – Baia Mare, Oradea – Satu Mare and Iasi, Sibiu – Targu Mures and Bacau – Suceava.
This year, the company added two new destinations to its routes network: Barcelona and Montreal, as well as flights on the Iasi – Vienna route. For the flights to Barcelona, TAROM uses its own airships, while, for Madrid and Vienna it sealed a partnership with Austrian Airlines. The National Air Transport Company’s fleet comprises 16 planes, 5 of which are Boeings and 7 are ATR 42s.
“In November – December period, we will complement our fleet with two Airbus A318 planes, with two more A 318 planes to be added by the end of 2007,” TAROM officials stated.