Blue Air hires 200 and targets 200m euros in turnover

Low-cost air carrier Blue Air, controlled by businessman Nelu Iordache, expects a 44% turnover increase this year, to over 200 million euros, and says it will carry 2.2 million passengers, 500,000 more than in 2009, after acquiring five aircraft and launching new routes.

"In 2010 we intend to continue to expand our fleet. We are in negotiations to acquire three Boeing aircraft, the first of which will be delivered at the end of February, and we are considering acquiring two SAAB 340 aircraft. At the same time we are seeking to consolidate our position on the foreign market and identify opportunities for destinations that will see our aircrafts full to capacity. We will open a third base in Larnaca, for flights to Vienna, Warsaw, and Milan, and a few charter flights, as well as a fourth base in Sibiu, for external flights," says Adrian Ionascu, general manager of Blue Air.

Ionascu took the reins of the company last year in June after Gheorghe Racaru was promoted to the helm of the development department of the group controlled by businessman Nelu Iordache, which includes Blue Air.

The biggest low-cost operator on the Romanian market currently has 830 employees and intends to hire another 200 this year - pilots and maintenance technicians.

Last year the company hired 155 staff and posted around 140 million euros in turnover, 20% less than originally estimated, but 12% more than in 2008.

"The rise in last year's number of passengers does not automatically translate into a turnover increase. We had to make significant cuts to ticket prices. Our main target has been to keep our market share at 42-44%. We will have the final results for last year at the end of March and I don't think we will see losses. The company will either break even or make between a few hundred thousand and a million euros in profit," Ionascu added.