Blue Air launches new flights between Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca

Blue Air, the low-fare airline based in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is launching short-haul flights connecting Bucharest and the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

The service between Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca will be operated 5 times a week, according to a statement from Blue Air.

In the summer of 2009 itself, Blue Air said it has introduced 20 new routes in an attempt to meet the needs of those passengers who are not able to reach Cluj-Napoca by car owing to inadequate road conditions.

Adrian Ionascu, managing director of Blue Air, explained in the statement that while a ride by car between Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca costs 61 euros and takes about 5 hours, travelling by plane costs 48 euros and takes nearly one hour.

The fares for the Bucharest-Cluj-Napoca route begin at 171 lei/segment, including all fees.

From July 15, 2009, Blue Air has been operating flights from Cluj-Napoca to 3 more destinations: one flight to Suceava in Romania, and 2 flights to external destinations – between Cluj-Napoca and Venice in Italy (via Suceava), and between Cluj-Napoca and Vienna in Austria (via Suceava).
Blue Air says the launching of the new routes as well as raising the flight frequencies is a result of a boost in the airline’s fleet of aircraft.

Blue Air, which started operations in December 2004, is 100% privately owned with Romanian capital. The carrier is authorised to operate long-haul as well as short-haul services – passenger, charter, on-demand, and cargo flights.

The fleet of Blue Air consists of a total of 8 Boeing aircraft – 3 Boeing 737-300 planes, 2 Boeing 737-400s, and 3 Boeing 737-800 Next Generation planes (having 189 seats).

The statement from Blue Air says that the airline will have a turnover of 170 million euros in 2009 – 45% more than the 120 million euros it posted in 2008.

The airline expects to fly 1.7 million passengers in 2009, compared to 1.1 million passengers that it carried in 2008.