Delta’s departure from Romania to change AFKLM’s plans

“Delta Air Lines could have positioned us better on the market. We had a joint venture with them. But, due to the crisis, Delta decided to resize its flights to several European destinations. They abandoned all their flights in Romania,” said Alexandru Dobrescu, Country Manager of AFKLM, a major air industry player. Delta Air Lines resumed flights from Bucharest to New York in June, operating these until 6 September. According to the official, Delta had to cover its operating expenses, and its tariffs were rather low. “I do not believe they registered losses in Romania, but, most likely, did not post planned earnings,” Dobrescu added.

He further indicated that the main goal for this year is maintaining the company’s market share at 18 percent, considering that the number of passengers is expected to remain at a level similar to that in 2008.

The Air France KLM revenues in Romania fell some 30 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, while the number of passengers rose, on average, by three percent.

“We are in line with the market. If the market dropped 34 percent in September, we had a similar evolution. This is nothing to be proud about. I would have liked to have a drop rate of one or two percentage points less, but I can say that we follow the market’s trend,” Dobrescu added. The reason for this decline, according to the official, comes from ticket prices, which were cut because of the crisis. For example, the price of AFKLM business class tickets plunged by over €100.