easyJet is the fifth largest air operator at Henri Coanda Airport, in terms of traffic

According to the airport’s statistics, since the beginning of this year, the top five airlines in terms of number of passengers are TAROM (Romania), Lufthansa (Germany), KLM (the Netherlands), Air France (France), and easyJet (United Kingdom).

At the end of the first eight months of this year, net sales of the Henri Coanda International Airport were of some RON 200 million (about €47.3 mln), up approximately five percent year-on-year. This rise in revenues was registered in the context of a slight decline in the number of passengers.

“The decline in the number of passengers was caused by the global economic downturn, which affected the evolution of traffic, a trend registered internationally. AIHCB owns a significant business traffic segment, of some 40 percent, and in this period, there is a trend of business passengers migrating to low-cost airlines, to reduce transport-related costs,” airport officials said.

In spite of everything, Romania seems an interesting investment for air operators. “After the Routes World Forum, in September, whose main goal is developing new air routes, several companies showed their interest in operating out of AIHCB. We are talking about Air Baltic (Latvia’a national company), Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norway’s national company), or Athens Airways (a private company in Greece),” sources said.

According to market analysts, Romania is considered to be an attractive country for air transporters, who see growth potential here, especially since the market has not yet reached maturity.

The government has recently approved the merger of the Henri Coanda and Aurel Vlaicu airports, after this merger was approved by the general meetings of the two companies at the end of September. Following this merger, the “Bucharest Airports” National Company will be established, of which the Ministry of Transport will own 80 percent, and the remaining 20 percent will be granted to Fondul Proprietatea, a fund established to compensate persons whose assets were confiscated by the communist regime.