TAROM ROMANIAN AIR TRANSPORT (TRANSPORTURILE AERIENE ROMANE, S. A.): Otopeni Airport, Bucharest, Romania; Phone 40 (1) 212-2494; Fax 40 (1) 314-0524; Http://tarom. digiro. net; Code RO; Year Founded 1946. To restart the domestic network of the prewar carrier Linile Aeriene Romane Exploatate cu Sta-tui (LARES) , the Romanian and Soviet governments establish the fifty-fifty partnership airline Transporturile Aeriene Romana Sovietica (TARS) in 1946. Li-2s (Soviet-made Douglas DC-3s) and former Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-52/3ms comprise the initial equipment and only local routes are flown in 1947-1953.
During these years, TARS is subjected to one crash and a number of hijackings. An Li-2 is lost while landing at Bucharest on August 13, 1947 (three dead).
The first skyjacking occurs on June 17, 1948, when a Junkers with 23 passengers is diverted to Salzburg, Austria. On April 29, 1949, another Ju-52/3m, with 16 passengers en route from Timisora to Bucharest, is seized by a gun-wielding youth, who orders the plane to fly to a military airfield at Salonika, Greece.
En route from Sibiu to Bucharest on December 9, an Li-2 with 24 passengers is captured by 4 passengers, who shoot a security guard dead and order the plane to fly to Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
In 1954, Romania buys out the Soviet half interest in TARS and assuming full control renames the carrier TAROM (Transporturile Aeriene Romane). Between 1955-1957, purchased Ilyushin Il-12s introduce service to other Warsaw Pact capitals, as well as Moscow. Il-14Ps are delivered and one of these, with four aboard and flown on behalf of the Party Central Committee, crashes while landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on November 4 of the latter year.
Initial routes are extended into Western Europe during 1958-1962; in the latter year enplanements are 217,000.
In 1963, the first Il-18 turboprops are placed in service on the European regional services. On June 16, a chartered Il-14P with 4 crew and 27 passengers crashes near the villages of Tokomlos and Bekessamson in southeast Hungary; there are no survivors.
Passenger boardings for the year advance to 329,000.
An Li-2 is lost at Paragina Hill on June 13, 1964 under unknown circumstances.
There are two fatal crashes in two days in October. On October 9, an Il-14P with 32 aboard crashes near Sibiu; the next day, an Il-18 goes down in the same place (43 dead).
Available traffic figures now show bookings of 371,000 in 1965.
While en route from Clui to Bucharest on August 11, 1966, an Li-2 with four crew and 20 passengers crashes into Romania’s Lotriora Valley near Sibiu; there are no survivors. Passenger boardings surge to 478,000 this year.
Traffic continues to advance: 571,000 passengers are flown in 1967.
Technoimport, on behalf of the carrier, orders six British Aircraft Corporation BAC 1-11-424s on February 26, 1968. The first is received on June 14 and is placed into service (scheduled and charter), linking Bucharest with Vienna, Zurich, Rome, Frankfurt, Brussels, and London. The second BAC is received on December 17 and the year’s enplanements reach 668,000.
In 1969, flights are started to the European destinations of Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Sofia, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, and Copenhagen as the fleet grows to comprise 6 BAC 1-11-424s, 11 Il-18s, 3 An-24s, and several Il-12/14s. Routes are also pushed east to Athens, Istanbul, Nicosia, Beirut, Tel Aviv, and Cairo, as well as nonstop from Bucharest to Moscow and from Bucharest to Algiers via Zurich. Passenger boardings reach 680,000.
The following year is especially tragic.
While on initial approach to Oradea after a service from Bucharest, an An-24 with 4 crew and 18 passengers crashes in the Aprisini Mountains on February 4, 1970; there are no survivors.
En route from Bucharest to Prague on September 14, a BAC 1-11-424 with 89 aboard is hijacked by 4 armed Hungarians accompanied by 2 children and diverted to Munich. All will be tried for air piracy; three will be sentenced to 2 1/2 years in German prisons while the fourth is acquitted.
Inbound from Tel Aviv on December 7, a BAC 1-11-424 with 7 crew and 20 passengers crashes while landing at Constanta (18 dead). En-planements this year total 849,000.
En route from Oradea to Bucharest on May 27, 1971, an Il-14P with 24 passengers is taken over by 6 hijackers, who divert the aircraft to Vienna. Put on trial, the pirates will receive prison terms ranging in length from 24 to 30 months.
A total of 958,000 passengers are carried this year.
A BAC 1-11-401 Astrojet is purchased from American Airlines on June 20, 1972 while a new BAC 1-11-402, just back from an eight-month lease to Bavaria Fluggesellschaft, MbH. & Co., is acquired in August.
A total of 1,001,000 boardings are recorded for the year.
The first Il-62s are received in 1973, allowing extension of services to Africa and the Far East. Among the lightplanes operated as part of the 30-unit fleet are 23 Cessnas, 4 Beech 55s, and 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters.
Bookings climb to 1,118,000 and airline employment is 1,580.
In February 1974, a Boeing 707-3K1C is received, allowing Bucharest-New York via Vienna services to commence. A total of 14 An-26s enter all-cargo service. Il-62 service from Bucharest to Beijing via Tehran is inaugurated on December 21.
An An-24V with 5 crew and 28 passengers crashes into the Lotru Mountains while on approach to Sibiu, Romania, on December 29; there are no survivors.
Passenger traffic this year rises to 1,414,000 passengers flown.
On January 4, 1975, an Il-14P with 33 aboard crashes into the Lotru Mountains; there are no survivors. During the spring, an order is placed with British Aircraft Corporation for five BAC 1-11-525s.
The charter subsidiary Linile Aerienne Romane is formed to operate inclusive-tours with three BAC 1-11-424s transferred from the parent company. Charters are started in December to the Black Sea holiday resorts.
Boardings this year dip to 1,397,000.
Tu-154s replace the BAC 1-11s on the European routes in 1976 while traffic remains level.
In 1977 and beyond, General Manager S. Craciunescu’s fleet comprises 4 Boeing 707-3K1Cs, 3 Ilyushin Il-62s, 10 Il-18s, 5 Tupolev Tu-154Bs, 4 BAC 1-11-424s, and 28 Antonov An-24s. Destinations now served include destinations in Europe, as well as Tripoli, Algiers, Casablanca, Amman, Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, Kuwait, Nicosia, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Karachi, Peking, and New York City.
The first of five BAC 1-11-525s is delivered on March 21. An Il-18V is involved in an accident at Bucharest on April 21; there are no other details concerning the incident.
On May 25, a tentative agreement is signed between British Aircraft Corporation and Grupui Aeronautic Bucuresti for the latter’s license-production of BAC 1-11s. The fifth BAC 1-11-525 arrives on August 25.
Enplanements for the year are 1,437,000.
The Romanian One-Eleven production contract is officially concluded at Filton, England, on June 15, 1978. The British will manage the ROMBAC project, which will be undertaken by Interprinderea de Avio-nane Bucuresti, which operates a manufacturing complex at Baneasa, near Bucharest.
Bookings this year are 1,613,000 and 1,908,000 passengers are flown in 1979.
As part of the ROMBAC project, an Aeromaritime, S. A. Super Guppy is chartered in January 1980 to transport the first of three complete British-built BAC One-Eleven fuselages to Bucharest.
Coming in from Bucharest on August 7, the pilot of a Tu-154B-1 with 16 crew and 152 passengers is unable to see the runway and lands his Tupolev in the sea 300 m. short of the concrete at Nouadhibou, Mauritania (one dead).
Overall bookings for the year slide to 1,871,000.
A BAC 1-11-525 arrives from Hurn, England, on January 16, 1981. Configured for passengers, it will serve as a finished pattern for the ROMBAC project. En route from Bucharest to Tel Aviv on June 17, a B-707-3K1C is forced to make an emergency landing at a Turkish air base because of a bomb scare. A BAC 1-11-487GK is delivered on July 28; configured as a freighter, it will serve ROMBAC as a pattern for cargo jets.
An An-24RV with seven crew on a training flight crashes while on final approach to Constanta on January 25, 1982; there are no survivors.
Romanian aviation begins production of the British Aerospace BAe (BAC) 1-11 in the first quarter; a second pattern BAC 1-11-525 is delivered on March 12. The first ROMBAC 1-11-560 is rolled out on August 27 and is test flown on September 18; certified on December 18, it is delivered to TAROM on December 24.
In 1983-1987, when little operational information is available, An-26s join the TAROM fleet, which also receives modernized Soviet jetliners. Services are begun or frequencies are increased to a total of 50 cities around the world; in April 1983, joint flights commence, in cooperation with Iberia Spanish Airlines (2) (Lineas Aereas de Espana, S. A.), between Bucharest and Madrid. On March 28, 1984, a BAC 1-11525 is chartered to Dan Air, Ltd./Dan Air Services for 18 months.
Passenger traffic figures are rarely provided and by available year the figures read 1,304,000 (1982), 1,239,014 (1986), and 1,281,296 (1987), the latter figure a 3.3% increase.
The Romanian flag carrier in 1988 has a fleet of 83 aircraft: 5 B-707-3K1Cs, 8 each Romanian-manufactured Rombac BAC 1-11-487s and BAC 1-11-560s, 3 Il-62s, 2 Il-62Ms, 11 Tu-154Bs, 11 Il-18s, 2 An-26s, and 33 An-24s.
Customer bookings accelerate 3.2% to 1,322,535 and cargo rises 10.5% to 12.8 million FTKs.
There is confusion and tragedy in 1989. While on a training flight from Otopeni Airport at Bucharest on February 9, a Tu-154B-2 with five crew suffers engine failure and crashes; there are no survivors.
An An-24RV freighter with seven crew crashes 50 km. W of Bucharest on December 28 while on a positioning flight; again, there are no survivors.
Traveler traffic for the state carrier fails as the result of the government’s downfall. Passenger boardings decline 3.8% to 1,271,726. Freight, however, moves ahead by 13.2% to 14.48 million FTKs.
The longtime Romanian flag line is reorganized into a private company in 1990, TAROM, S. A., with George Racaru as director general. Orders are placed for three Airbus Industrie A310-325s. Other Western aircraft in the fleet include 4 Boeing B-707-3K1Cs and 2 B-707-321Cs, plus 1 each BAC 1-11-401AK and 111-402AP, 2 111-424EUs that are leased to LAR (Ligacoes Aereas Regionals, S. A.) in Portugal, 1 BAC 1-11-487GK leased to Anglo Airlines, Ltd., and 7 BAC 1-11-525FTs, 2 of which are leased to the Irish independent Ryanair, Ltd. All of these are painted in a new livery.
Code-sharing flights commence with Royal Jordanian Airlines in April over a route from Bucharest to Amman. During the summer and fall, five An-26s are transferred to Romavia, S. A.
Customer bookings recover and rise 3.9% to 1,321,498. In a reversal of the previous year, cargo plunges 11.9% to 12.77 million FTKs.
Customer bookings inch up to 1,343,562 in 1991 and freight traffic climbs to 17.42 million FTKs.
The first A310-325 is placed into service in the fall of 1992 and orders are placed for seven B-737-38Js. Joint operations commence with Austrian Airlines, A. G. on routes from Timisoara and Bucharest to Vienna.
Enplanements rise a very slight 0.2% to 1,340,881, but cargo rockets skyward an almost unbelievable 482.1% to 72.68 million FTKs.
In 1993, Director General Racaru adds another Airbus A310-325 and a pair of B-737-38Js. When the first “Baby Boeing” is received, it is christened Alba Lulia. In addition to domestic passenger and cargo services, the company offers international scheduled flights from Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport to Algiers, Tripoi, Amman, Casablanca, Beirut, Baghdad, Istanbul, Cairo, Damascus, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Tel Aviv, Larnaca, Karachi, Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing, and New York.
Late in the year, the previous arrangement with Austrian Airlines, A. G. is rewritten into a code-sharing agreement for the flights from Timisoara to Vienna; the flights are made with Austrian aircraft.
Although customer bookings slide 1.5% to 1,642,236, cargo climbs 5.5% to 100.89 million FTKs. The year’s operating and net losses are an identical $11.47 million.
Airline employment stands at 3,300 in 1994 and a third A310-325, flown earlier by Pan American World Airways (1) and Delta Air Lines, is acquired under dry-lease in April. Also in April, a block-space agreement begins with LOT Polish Airlines, S. A. over a route from Bucharest to Warsaw.
On September 24 while on approach to Paris (ORY) from Bucharest with 182 passengers aboard, the new Airbus suddenly pulls into a steep nose-high altitude and rolls into a dive; pilots regain control and pull the plane up just 800 feet above the ground. No one aboard is seriously injured. Panic-stricken passengers are so relieved that, as soon as the plane is safely on the ground, many run forward to embrace the pilot.
Passenger boardings for the year plunge another 22.5% to 1,273,315 and freight all but collapses, declining 79.9% to 20.27 million FTKs. Revenues jump 14.1% to $181.97 million, while expenses accelerate 20.8% to $206.4 million. As a result, there is an operating loss of $24.43 million and a net loss of $44.78 million.
There is no change in the workforce during 1995. The Airbus involved in the September Paris event experiences another mysterious incident on March 1. While en route from Chicago to Amsterdam, the A310-325, while over Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, suddenly climbs above its ATC-assigned cruise altitude, decelerates, and then plunges 7,000 feet before it is recovered. Again, no injuries are reported. From midMarch on, officials at the airline and at the two Bucharest airports receive multiple bomb threats.
Just after takeoff from Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport for Brussels on March 31, Flight 371, an A310-325 with 10 crew and 50 passengers and piloted by Capt. Ilie Batanoui, suddenly goes into a steep dive and crashes in a sleet storm into a snow-covered field outside of the Romanian capital. There are no survivors and witnesses report seeing one or two explosions before the jetliner went down. The disaster is blamed on thrust asymmetry and crew failure.
The two remaining Airbuses are grounded until experts from their manufacturer can complete systems integrity verification during the first week of April.
It is reported on April 3 that post-crash tests on the victims of the March 31 disaster have confirmed an in-flight explosion, possibly caused by a bomb, as the cause of the disaster. On April 4, a bomb threat forces a company aircraft en route from Bucharest to Paris to make an emergency landing at Timisoara; no explosive is found. The next day, a TAROM BAe (BAC) 1-11-525FR flying from Bucharest to Stockholm is also the subject of a bomb threat and lands prematurely at Warsaw; again, no bomb is located.
On April 11, an official finding blames technical failure and not a bomb for the March 31 crash. Also during the month, joint flights commence with CSA Czech Airlines over a route from Bucharest to Prague.
During the summer, two B-707-3K1Cs are leased to Air Afrique, S. A. (2). Later, on December 13, another jetliner with 49 aboard crashes near Verona, Italy; there are no survivors.
Enplanements swell 8.7% to 978,723 and cargo moves ahead by 3.5% to 17.49 million FTKs.
Airline employment is increased by 1.4% in 1996 to 3,345. In January, the flag carrier takes a 15% asset stake in George C. Paunescu’s Bucharest-based DAC Air, S. A. The carrier turns over a number of domestic routes to the new entrant, which launches services in May to 12 locations. DAC Air, S. A. receives operational support from TAROM in the way of reservations and ticketing, ground handling, and passenger facilities.
Director General Racaru infuriates the carrier’s unions by announcing plans to dismiss 400 employees and ground all but 15 aircraft as a way of addressing TAROM’s $400-million debt. In May, this bold plan is blocked by the government, which is facing elections.
Service to Tashkent ends on July 24.
In December, two second-hand Aero International (Regional) ATR42-320s are received.
If the previous year was good for traffic, this one is bad. Customer bookings plunge 24.5% to 738,614 and 14.53 million FTKs are operated, a 16.9% decline. There is a $24-million net loss.
The employee population is slashed 13% in 1997 to 2,900. The newly received ATRs begin domestic flights from Bucharest in January, during which month Marian Serbanescu is appointed acting director general.
The debt-ridden airline once more attempts to implement a restructuring program. In addition to mass layoffs, the carrier pledges to rid itself of all its old Soviet-built flight equipment.
Destinations visited now include Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Casablanca, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Karachi, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, Tel Aviv, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zurich.
The code-sharing services with CSA Czech Airlines cease in June. Discussions commence with Iberia Spanish Airlines (2) (Lineas Aereas de Espana, S. A.) concerning extension of their 1983 pact to include dual-designator flights from Bucharest to Barcelona.
Employees opposed to the carrier’s restructuring plan go on strike during the week of November 10. Just after takeoff from Bucharest for Hanoi, an A310-325 with Romanian President Emil Constantinescu and his party on board and headed for a Francophone summit, is forced to return to the airport after the plane’s center of gravity shifts toward the tail. The aircraft stays on the ground for two hours unloading five tons of fuel before proceeding on without incident.
On November 17, President Constantinescu orders Transport Minister Traian Basescu to sign a decree reappointing George Racaru as director general. The Reuters dispatch announcing the changeover quotes an unnamed transport ministry official as saying, “I have no idea if the minister appointed him because of what happened last week.” The former CEO, Serbanescu, is demoted to technical manager.
Passenger boardings fall 6.1% to 693,733 while cargo drops 15.8% to 12.23 million FTKs. There is a net gain of $15.22 million, despite an operating loss of $12.03 million.
In the spring of 1998, the Romanian government requires a restructuring program be intensified. Layoffs, route rationalization, and replacement of the Soviet-era fleet continue to headline an effort to put the company into a position for privatization.
With the beginning of the winter season at the end of October, thrice-weekly roundtrips are introduced from Bucharest to Arad and Treviso, Italy.
Customer bookings accelerate 7.6% this year to 745,000, while freight traffic falls another 3.7% to 11.78 million FTKs. Revenues jump 9.8% to $160.45 million, while costs ascend 6.9% to $1.69.23 million. There is an operating loss of $8.77 million and a net loss of $7.06 million.
Flights continue in 1999. At the end of March, TAROM becomes the first Avions de Transport Regional customer to receive four aircraft in one day when it accepts delivery of four ATR42-520s.
In his article “Flying High” in the May 8 issue of the Bucharest Business Week, reporter Sean Hillen provides an extensive and flattering profile of General Manager Racaru. It is the most complete for any of the post-Communist era East European airline leaders.
On June 17, orders are placed with Boeing for four each Next Generation B-737-700s and B-737-800s; deliveries are scheduled to commence at the end of the year. Two each ATR42-520s and ATR72-520s are added during these 12 months. The Bucharest Business Week reports on October 11 that ABN-AMRO Bank (Romania), S. A. and Credit Commercial de France, S. A. are both bidding to become advisors to the Romanian Transport Ministry and the State Ownership Fund on the privatization of TAROM. If successful, the CCF team would be led by former Air France CEO Christian Blanc. The AMRO Bank is named consultant on October 22.
Customer bookings accelerate 12.9% to 843,000, even as cargo traffic slides 5.4% to 11.13 million FTKs.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 2,921, a 1.2% increase over the previous 12 months. The “classic” B-737 fleet continues to include 5 Dash-38Js, and 1 each Dash-36M, Dash-36Q, Dash-33A, Dash-548, and Dash-5L9. Most are leased.
Due to a political dispute, services by Estonian Air Corporation, A. S. from Moscow to Tallinn are suspended on April 6. Following the route cutback, the B-757-5Q8 employed on the route is subleased by EAC to TAROM. It arrives at Bucharest wearing the basic Estonian color scheme with TAROM titles.
On June 20, a code-sharing agreement is signed with Alitalia, S. p.A. The Italian line will place its designator on the Romanian’s twice-weekly ATR42-520 roundtrips from Bucharest to Parma via Cluj Napoca.
The Romanian Transport Ministry, on September 8, places 54.2% of the national carrier up for sale. Delivery of tenders is expected during the period between September 12 and November 3 and it is anticipated that as much as 51% of the stock will be held by Romanian nationals and/or juristic persons, thereby allowing TAROM to remain the national airline.
Due to lack of interest and acting on advice from its AMRO Bank consultants, the government, on November 24, puts off the sale of TAROM and announces that the privatization process will be relaunched on September 31, 2001. Analysts suggest that investors had probably been put off by the country’s poor economic situation, high fuel prices, the airline’s less-than-spectacular fiscal performance, and uncertainty surrounding the Romanian national elections scheduled for November 26.
Hosted by JAT Yugoslav Airlines CEO Mihajlo Vujinovic, a “meeting of the scheduled airlines of Southeast Europe” is held at Belgrade in mid-December to consider possible joint cooperation. Attending are representatives of Malev Hungarian Airlines, Rt., Croatia Airlines, Air Bosna, S. A., Air Srpska, S. A., Monenegro Airlines, Macedonian Airlines, and Adria Airways (Adria Aviopromet) (2). Due to an unplanned management change, TAROM is unable to participate, but expresses interest in joint activities.
Of the eight participating airlines, six express interest in joint commercial operations, four in joint technical and maintenance activities, and five in joint training exercises. To study and discuss matters further, three working committees are established: commercial, chaired by a representative from Adria Airways (Adria Aviopromet) (2), technical, chaired by a Malev Hungarian Airlines, Rt. Representative, and training, chaired by a representative from JAT Yugoslav Airlines.
World History
