Ionascu, Blue Air: The low-cost market will be dominated by 2-3 players in 5 years time

“What companies will remain after five years remains to be seen. I like competition,” Ionascu told Business Standard.

The official estimates that the low-cost segment will increase 20-25 percent this year, and by 10 percent in 2010. At present, the Romanian low-cost market is worth some €160 million, and Blue Air’s main competitor is Wizz Air, followed by easyJet, Germanwings, and Ryanair.

Due to financial difficulties at group level, two players exited the Romanian market this year - MyAir (Italy) and SkyEurope (Slovakia). The two companies owe a total of €1.8 million to the Aurel Vlaicu Airport, the State Secretary in the Ministry of Transports, Marin Anton, previously told Business Standard.

Ionascu added that the number of Romanians who will opt for air travelling could double in the coming three years, considering that the behavior of consumers changed. “At present, about three percent of Romania’s population travels by plane. In developed countries, we are talking about 15-20 percent. I believe that there is room for another three percent locally in the coming three years,” the official said.

Sources in the low-cost air industry told Business Standard, at the end of August, that Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost operator, could close its operations in Romania too, less than one and a half years after entering this market, because it failed to meet its passenger traffic target. The information was not confirmed by the officials of the British company.