"Last year, Romania ranked 14th in Europe, but the growth achieved this year has catapulted us into the top ten. In terms of growth rate, we have even left Poland behind," said Emil Delibashev, commercial manager of British Airways Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.
The company expects to preserve its growth rate throughout the summer and the entire fiscal year (April 2008 - March 2009), and forecasts an over 10% revenue increase against 2007. Company representatives did not provide information on the value of sales derived on the local market.
"The winter schedule will no longer include a third daily flight on the Bucharest-London route because traffic is less heavy during that period. However, this route will be resumed next summer, with flights to be adapted to the summer schedule," added Delibashev.
Although airline operators are faced with a worldwide crisis due to an increase in fuel prices, which has prompted a reduction in the frequency of flights on certain routes, the growth experienced in Romania has encouraged BA to continue development plans on the local market.
"Romania is a secure market from this point of view, and development continues to be our target. Cluj remains one of BA's priorities when it comes to launching new routes", explained Delibashev.
British Airways introduced its third daily flight on the Bucharest-London route at the end of March, which will be part of next summer's schedule.
The introduction of the new route has also boosted passenger traffic on connecting flights, with prevalent final destinations for those travelling from Bucharest to London being New York and Chicago.
"Lately, we have seen significant increases in traffic on connecting flights to Cape Town, Johannesburg (South Africa), Hong Kong and Sydney (Australia)," specified the representative of British Airways Romania, who added that promotional fares had been introduced for destinations outside the United States, Canada and Europe, which can reach around 400 euros for return flights (landing fees excluded).
Aside from British Airways, Romanian passengers also choose operators such as KLM and Air France for transatlantic flights. The only direct flight on the Bucharest - New York route is the one operated by Delta Air Lines, but it will no longer operate as part of the winter schedule.
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