CARPATAIR - Highlights - Quality and Safety, Our Fleet, Wet Lease Services

It was just one leased Yak-40 aircraft with which Nicolae Petrov chose to start in March 1999 the expansion of the airline business from Republic of Moldova farther to Romania. On March 26 that year, the newly created airline launched the first ever Carpatair regular service Cluj Napoca - Venice Treviso. After that, lots of other routes were inaugurated and Carpatair soon became a solid and competitive airline, we could say a revelation of Romania’s whole airline industry and even of the region. One of the decisive elements in the company’s success was the financial support and knowhow transfer of the Swiss investors that joined the company at Nicolae's proposal by the end of 1999, all former “godfathers" of Crossair, eager to see the rebirth of what was their “good old airline” into a new and younger replica. Very soon, Carpatair managed to acquire modern, high performance aircraft, considerably improve the operating environment, quality standards and significantly diversify its route network.

The story of Carpatair has all the ingredients of a success story: a former fighter pilot who got compelled to create his own airline as he hadn’t had otherwise an employment to continue his flying carrier, gets associated after a while with experienced and successful businessmen, among them entrepreneurs Moritz Suter, Ingvar Kamprad, Michael Pieper, Thierry Lombard of the bank Lombard Odier - Geneva, highly reputable Swiss lawyers Dr Georg and Alfred Wiederkehr, Dr Robert Briner; all having previously created and successfully managed a famous regional airline – Crossair, united by the same idea: never get satisfied with what you’ve already achieved and remember that you can always do something better in a different way than others without compromising on quality.

Nicolae Petrov, President & CEO:
“We managed to turn what seemed a risky endeavour into a success story and a company with continuous and sustainable growth.”

1999

Carpatair, a joint-stock company, is established in 1999 in Bucharest with its operation base in Cluj-Napoca.

In spring 1999, Carpatair inaugurates two scheduled services: Cluj-Venice (Treviso) and Cluj-Budapest. The same year, Cluj-Bologna flight is launched.

2000

The “hub & spoke” operation is set up being centered at Timisoara. It's a simple but highly complex concept which links all routes network to the hub allowing passengers from all destinations in Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Romania to travel to and from western destinations with a single and short stop. This model, completely opposite to the point-to-point airline concept, did work well in the Carpatair case. In fact, it has proven once more that, where there is not sufficient local demand, the hub transfer travel is the perfect solution.

2001

The year 2001 is dedicated to a gradual increase of flight frequencies while Sibiu, a new domestic airport, is also connected to its route network. Anticipating the growing regional air transportation demand, Carpatair acquires more Saab 340 aircraft to replace the YAK-40 aircraft.

2002

Following its developing strategy Carpatair consolidates its presence on Italian market by inaugurating the Rome-Ciampino flight on 1 July; slightly earlier, Carpatair opens up a new market for its passengers – Germany – launching its flight Timisoara–Munich on 31 March.

2002 - The first year when Carpatair reports profits.

2003

In January, Carpatair operations base and headquarters are moved from Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest to Timisoara. Despite the unstable airline industry due to the 9/11 events, Carpatair is the airline whose turnover grows from year to year. Identifying new niches on the market, feasible for being served with small capacity aircraft and in which no other airlines are interested, becomes Carpatair’s specialty which eventually defines its business model.

2004

By March 2004, six SAAB 2000 aircraft are acquired, gradually replacing the smaller SAAB 340 aircraft, once again setting Carpatair apart from other airlines in the region.

2005

Carpatair further consolidates its position on the market. It manages to turn the traffic rights on all Italian destinations from the charter into conventional scheduled status. Other important projects are inaugurated as well.

2006

Another important milestone for Carpatair, three Fokker-100 jet aircraft with a 105 seat-capacity enter the company fleet, thus ensuring continuous growth due to bigger aircraft capacity.

This acquisition allows the company to establish cooperation with various Romanian and foreign tour operators demanding holiday charter services.

Carpatair extends its Saab 2000 fleet to 12 aircraft, thus becoming the largest operator of the type worldwide.

Since January, the “Call and Fly” service becomes accessible in Italy, Germany, France and Ukraine as well.
In the first part of 2006, Carpatair starts the implementation of advanced operational software, “Netline” developed by Lufthansa Systems, which enables the automation and integration of communication, planning and control of all flight, maintenance and crew activities.

After having consolidated its position on the Italian and German markets, Carpatair decides to enter a new market, Ukraine, by launching its first flight from Timisoara to the western part of Ukraine, Lviv.
It also extends its services to Western Europe, adding Timisoara – Paris Charles de Gaulle flight to its hub.

Carpatair enlarges operation to 11 domestic destinations, adding Suceava and Satu-Mare to its route network, both destinations being connected to Timisoara hub.

Summer 2006 brings a new top destination to Carpatair’s route network – Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
On 1 June, Carpatair launches Business Class services, specially dedicated to business passengers who travel frequently on Carpatair flights.

In October 2006, aiming at complying with IATA “Simplifying the Business” project, designed at complete elimination by 2008 of all paper documents used for passengers transportation, Carpatair becomes the first Romanian carrier to introduce standard IATA electronic ticketing on all its routes.

The next step in enhancing the overall performance of the airline is the implementation of SITA RM (Revenue Management), specialized software dealing with revenues maximization and improvement of seats occupancy.

In November, Carpatair unveils the first issue of its in-flight product “Carpatair Magazine” aimed to ensure better communication with its customers and better meeting their expectations. It becomes a real success.

2006 is the year when Carpatair crosses the threshold of half a million passengers carried on its flights, counting its passenger number 500,000 in early December.

2007

The same year when Romania enters the family of the European Union, Carpatair passes its second IOSA audit, continuing to prove its high safety standards.