TAROM lost 20% of its clients in five years

 “To regain market share, we are developing a strategy that aims to maintain ticket prices and supplement winter flights for profitable destinations,” the company’s General Manager, Gheorghe Barla, told Business Standard.

Market sources indicate that TAROM lost 17-20 percent of its market share, especially to low-cost airlines, which engaged in aggressive promotion and offered more affordable prices. “The local market is under siege of low-cost companies, who operate according to certain rules, with sky-high growth,” Barla said.

TAROM will keep investing in new aircraft to keep up with other operators, Barla said. He added that the company could register losses this year, due to high fuel prices. “Costs were double in the first quarter of this year compared to last year,” according to Barla.

The company also registered losses in the 2001-2003 period, but became profitable as of 2005.

In the first six months, the company posted €120 million in turnover, 20 percent higher than in H12007, as it managed to secure 16 percent more passengers than in the first half of last year. For the entire year, the company foresees €305 million in business, 25 percent higher year-on-year. It also estimates to transport some 2.3 million passengers.

TAROM’s main competitors are Carpatair, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Malev, Czech Airlines, British Airways, and several low-cost operators with flights in Romania.