Hungarian airline Malev, one of the top-five regular airlines in Romania, has suspended flights departing from Timisoara and Iasi to Budapest as part of its winter schedule, going from 65 flights per week in the summer schedule to 45 in the winter. "The crisis affected all airlines. We are still seeking to boost the volume of passengers and the aircraft's load factor. The flights that did not fetch a high load factor were suspended," said Karim Makhlouf, Malev's commercial manager. Company representatives expect the number of passengers to rise by 7-8% on routes operated from Romania, amid a reduction in aeroplane ticket prices, as well as the introduction of holiday packages in partnership with Budapest hotels. The average load factor of Malev aircraft on Romanian routes amounted to 70-75%. According to the latest available information, the company carried around 280,000 passengers to and from Romania. The reduction in the number of flights is expected to also result in a reduction in the number of employees in Romania, from the current 18, according to Malev representatives. "Malev is going through a restructuring process. We have cut the number of employees this year, from 1,800 to 1,450 employees globally, and are going to reach 1,000 employees by 2010. As for top management changes, we replaced eight executives out of nine. We're changing everything," Karim Makhlouf said.