Romanians are flying abroad more and more often. However, they do not settle for just any conditions, but for the business and the first class, i.e. the so-called deluxe class as far as air transport is concerned.
"Back in the days when we operated Concorde flights, we had even Romanian clients for them. We now have more and more clients for our business class and first class flights," Rodolphe Lenoir, general manager of Air France's Romanian branch for more than a month now, said.
He added the company logged 20% sales growth in the first half of 2003 budget year (April 2003-March 2004) compared with the same time last year.
Early in this fiscal year, Air France's officials were estimating 16 million euro turnover, which accounted for a nearly 15% growth from last year. "If the growth pace in the first half maintains throughout the second, then I think we'll exceed our estimates," Lenoir added.
Air France last year made 14 million euro turnover in Romania.
Why this growth beyond estimates in Romania?
"We've come out of the recession induced by SARS and the war in Iraq well. Moreover, the number of Romanians travelling abroad is increasing, and more and more foreigners come to visit or do business in Romania. All these things translate into a traffic boost for airlines," Lenoir said.
He specified that out of the total number of passengers "shipped" by Air France outside Romania, only one third would end their trip in Paris.
"Europe and even North America are our best-sellers and we have had a special promotion for the latter lately. We also want to develop the Asian destinations, where we expect significant growth soon," Lenoir added.
Air France is currently operating two Bucharest-Paris flights a day.
"We used to have two Airbus A319's for these flights, but given the very the large number of passengers, we decided to boost capacity. We have therefore replaced an Airbus A319 with an Airbus A320, which is larger. I think we'll have an Airbus A320 for the second flight, as well, starting next summer," Lenoir says.
He specified increasing the number of flights was out of the question for the time being. "A new Bucharest-Paris flight would entail a substantial investment that is not called for at the moment. However, we are in talks with Romanian Tarom airline to operate certain routes together," Lenoir says.
The company currently accounts for a little above 10% of the market, according to its own estimates and ranks third among airlines. The number one operator is Tarom. Air France is now about to finalise a merger agreement with another European airline - KLM. The merger could create the largest European airline.
Lenoir would not comment on the effects the merger might have in Romania.
Air France is part of the Skyteam alliance, along with Delta Air Lines (US). Skyteam includes Korean Air, Alitalia, Czech operator CSA Czech Airlines, Aero Mexico etc. Air France posted 12.69bn euro turnover in the budgetary 2002-2003, 1.3% higher than in the previous year, with net profit exceeding 120 million euros.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
