TAROM

TAROM is the flag carrier and oldest currently operating airline of Romania, based in Otopeni near Bucharest. Its headquarters and its main hub are at Henri Coandă International Airport. It is currently the first and largest airline operating in Romania based on international destinations, international flights and the second-largest measured by fleet size and passengers carried.
The brand name is an acronym of the . Over ninety-seven percent of TAROM is owned by the Romanian Government. The airline transported almost 2.75 million passengers in 2018, with an average load factor of 74%. The airline joined SkyTeam on 25 June 2010.

History

The beginnings

The history of the Romanian National Air Transport Company can be traced back to 1920, when CFRNA - was founded. On 13 April 1920, the company registered its headquarters at 194 Rue Rivoli, in Paris. A decree issued on 26 April 1920 establishes Direcțiunea Aviației, in the subordination of the Ministry of Communications. In the same year, the Kingdom of Romania offered CFRNA exploitation rights. The country offered the airline two aerodromes: one in Arad, and another one in Bucharest–Băneasa. The airline used French-built Potez 15 aircraft for its passenger/mail service between Paris and Bucharest via several cities in Central Europe. In 1925, the city of Galați became the first destination in Romania served by regular flights followed, from 24 June 1926, by an extended service to Iași and Chișinău. Ten de Havilland DH.9 and five Ansaldo A.300, in addition to the Potez aircraft, operated the service.
In 1928, the airline changed its name to SNNA. On 9 July 1930, the company adopted the name while 20 July 1937 saw the merger of LARES with its competitor, .

Post-World War II

Immediately after World War II, in 1945, when the Soviet Union had extended its influence across Eastern Europe, a new reorganization replaced LARES with TARS, jointly owned by the governments of Romania and the Soviet Union. Domestic operations were started from Bucharest on 1 February 1946, when TARS took overall air services and aircraft from LARES.
Over the following decade, the company's Soviet share was purchased by the Romanian government and, on 18 September 1954, the airline adopted the name of TAROM. By 1960, TAROM was flying to a dozen cities across Europe. 1966 saw the operation of its first transatlantic flight. On 14 May 1974, it launched a regular service to New York City.
Being part of the regional group of airlines within Eastern Bloc states meant that for much of its history, TAROM has operated Soviet-designed aircraft. These included Lisunov Li-2s, Ilyushin Il-14s, Ilyushin Il-18 long-range turboprops, Ilyushin Il-62 long-range jet airliners, Antonov An-24 regional turboprops, and Tupolev Tu-154 medium-range tri-jets. As was the case with several other nations, the Il-62 was the first long-range jet airliner to be put into operation by Romania in 1973. Five examples were owned by TAROM, which also leased the aircraft to other operators.
Exceptions to Soviet-built aircraft were made in 1968, when TAROM bought six BAC One-Eleven 400s for European and Middle Eastern destinations, and in 1974 when it acquired Boeing 707 aircraft to share its long-haul operations with the Il-62. Plans were made to acquire Vickers VC10 aircraft as well, but in the end, the Soviets did not allow it, and made them buy the Il-62 instead. With 59 aircraft in operation, in the late 1970s, TAROM had the largest fleet in the Eastern Bloc, after Aeroflot.

The 1990s

After the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, the airline, operating a fleet of 65 aircraft of six basic types, was able to acquire more Western-built jets. In 1992, TAROM bought 3 Airbus A310 planes, nicknamed: "Transilvania", "Moldova" and "Muntenia". By 1993, TAROM had introduced long-haul flights to Montreal and Bangkok using Ilyushin Il-62 and Airbus A310 aircraft. The YR-LCC Airbus A310 joined TAROM's fleet on 10 April 1994, to then crash near Balotești on 31 March 1995.
During the 1990s, TAROM replaced its long-haul fleet of Boeing 707s and IL-62s with Airbus A310s.

2000s and 2010s

TAROM is recovering from a difficult period that began in the 1990s when losses of up to $68 million per year were registered, caused by unprofitable routes. At the beginning of the new millennium, the airline initiated a programme that was aimed at restoring profitability. This was achieved by terminating loss-making intercontinental services. In 2001, the airline cancelled its non-profitable long-haul services to Bangkok and Montreal and also terminated services to its remaining intercontinental destinations of Chicago in 2002, and Beijing and New York City in 2003. TAROM terminated loss-making domestic services to Craiova, Tulcea, Caransebeș, and Constanța, and focused its activity on service to key destinations in Europe and the Middle East. TAROM has decided to focus its operations on Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca International Airport, and initiated direct international flights from Sibiu International Airport. 2004 was the first profitable year of the last decade. By 2005, TAROM tried selling its A310 fleet three times, which was being preserved since 2003.
A fleet upgrade programme started in 2006 with the acquisition of four Airbus A318s, three Boeing 737-800s, and two ATR 72-500s, which resulted in a fleet increase to 26 by 2009.
From 2003 until 2007, the airline spent €1 million per year to preserve its A310s "Moldova" and "Transilvania". In 2007, TAROM modernized its two Airbus A310 planes at the Airbus plant in Bordeaux. After being reconditioned, the pair was used in medium-haul flights, which were not successful.
The airline had a frequent-flyer programme "Smart Miles", which was turned into Flying Blue on 5 June 2010. Codeshare agreements with foreign partner airlines are in place for several international routes. On 25 June 2010, TAROM joined SkyTeam as the alliance's thirteenth member.
Starting with November 2012, in accordance with the Romanian state-company legislation, TAROM was led by a private manager, the Belgian Christian Heinzmann occupying the positions of CEO and Accountable Manager until March 2016. During Heinzmann's leadership, the company reduced its financial losses by more than 75%, grew its yearly passenger number to a record 2.4 million and stabilised its load-factor around 70%. However, broad reforms like the fleet renewal and harmonisation, as well as the establishment of profit centers such as the TAROM Maintenance and TAROM Charter services, were not accomplished due to a constant lack of a decision from the company's board of administrators.
On 12 September and 29 October 2016, TAROM retired their remaining two Airbus A310-300s after final flights from Madrid to Bucharest. The A310s will be replaced with new smaller aircraft. In May 2017, TAROM received its first of two leased Boeing 737-800s. Another two ex-Malaysian Airlines 737-800 were added to the fleet in 2018 and a contract for five Boeing 737 MAX 8 was signed with deliveries stated to begin in 2023. On 27 December 2019, the Ministry of Transport announced that 9 new ATR 72-600 leased from Nordic Aviation Capital for a 10 year-period would replace the existent ATR 42-500 and 72-500, manufactured in 1999–2000 and 2009, respectively. TAROM received the first four aircraft in February 2020, with the first one, registered with code YR-ATJ, landing in Bucharest on 18 February 2020, at 2:50 PM EET.

2020s

The COVID-19 pandemic caused TAROM to temporarily cease all scheduled operations from 25 March 2020. TAROM operated flights for the Romanian Government during the state of emergency, bringing medical equipment from China. After the state of emergency expired, TAROM resumed scheduled operations from May 2020.
In 2021, TAROM's then new CEO stated that none of the airline's current routes were profitable. In October 2022, it was reported that the operator of Henri Coandă International Airport, TAROM's home base, was considering legal action against the airline over unpaid fees exceeding €10 million, and also might suspend all services for the carrier.
In November 2024, the European General Court rejected a legal challenge by low-cost carrier Wizz Air against a capital injection provided by the Romanian government to TAROM. The aid, valued at €2 million, was approved by the European Commission as part of efforts to compensate TAROM for losses related to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Wizz Air argued that this financial support violated EU competition laws, but the court affirmed the European Commission’s decision, ruling that the subsidy was in compliance with EU state aid regulations.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

TAROM is a state-owned company, with shareholding structure as follows:

Shareholder	Interest
The Romanian Government	97.22%
Bucharest Airports National Company	1.46%
ROMATSA R.A.	1.24%
Societatea de Investiții Financiare Muntenia	0.08%
Total	100.00%

Business trends

Figures for recent years are shown below :

FY	Turnover	Profit	Number of employees	Number of passengers	Passenger load factor	Number of aircraft	References
2004	190	1.4		1.1	63.6	16
2005	220	1.1	2,289	1.4	61.0	18
2006	234	12.3	2,333	1.4	62.3	20
2007	261	21.8	2,338	1.8	67.2	22
2008	257	−1.7	2,471	1.9	61.9	24
2009	193	−55	2,517	1.7	55.6	26
2010	218	−79	2,353	2.2	60.9	26
2011	279	−58	2,200	2.1	60.6	26
2012	238	−54.5	2,070	2.1	66.0	24
2013	247	−29.5	2,006	2.1	65.9	24
2014	258	−25	1,969	2.3	66.0	24
2015	256	−6.2	1,880	2.3	70.0	23
2016	239	−10.5	1,841	2.4	68.1	21
2017	255	−37.7	1,776	2.3	71.6	23
2018	306	−27.5	1,773	2.8	74	25
2019	315	−35.8	1,750	3.1	74.9	25
2023		−20
2024	433	60	1,312			14