Tarom plans to establish a joint venture with an airline operator or an important aircraft repair and maintenance company in order to expand its activities in this field by building a hangar and increasing the number of contracts with foreign operators. “Tarom currently holds the necessary permits to conduct repair and maintenance works on several types of aircraft. Contracts with foreign clients account for about two thirds of the basic maintenance business and generated $5.8 million (4.5 million euros) in revenues and $3.5 million (2.8 million euros) in profits for the first nine months of the year, having increased on last year,” said Tarom’s technical director Sever Bucur. Last year, Tarom brought in $6.5 million (5.2 million euros) from repair and maintenance works performed for foreign companies, making a profit of $3.2 million (2.7 million euros). According to an announcement made by Tarom, all companies interested in this project have until January 31, 2005, to submit letters of intent. ZF