What is Tarom?

TAROM Transporturile Aeriene Române
IATA RO	ICAO ROT	Callsign TAROM
Founded		1920 (as the French-Romanian Company for Air Navigation); 1946 as TARS; 1954 as TAROM
Hubs		Henri Coandă International Airport
Focus cities		Cluj International Airport
Fleet size		20 (+ 2 orders)
Destinations		47 (21 countries)
Parent company		Compania Naţională de Transporturi Aeriene TAROM S.A.
Headquarters		Bucharest, Romania
Key people		Gheorghe Bîrlă (Director General)
Website: [1]

TAROM is the flag carrier airline of Romania. Its main base is the Henri Coandă International Airport in Bucharest (formerly Otopeni airport). The airline operates scheduled domestic services and international services to destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. 95% of TAROM is owned by the Romanian Government (Ministry of Transport). The brand name TAROM is an acronym for Transporturile Aeriene ROMâne (Romanian Air Transport).

History

The beginnings

TAROM was founded in 1920 under the name CFRNA - (French-Romanian Company for Air Navigation). The airline used French-built Potez aircraft for its passenger / mail service between Paris and Bucharest via several cities in Central Europe. In 1925, the city of Galaţi became the first destination in Romania served by regular flights. In 1926 the airline changed its name to CIDNA (The International Air Navigation Company). In 1930, the company adopted the name LARES (Liniile Aeriene Române Exploatate de Stat) while 1937 saw the merger of LARES with its competitor SARTA (Societatea Română de Transporturi Aeriene).

Post WW2

After World War II, when the Soviet Union had extended its influence across Eastern Europe, the airline TARS (Transporturi Aeriene Româno-Sovietice) was established on 8 August 1945, jointly-owned by the governments of Romania and the Soviet Union. Domestic operations were started from Bucharest (Baneasa Airport) on 1 February 1946. The company's Soviet share was purchased by Romania and, on 18 September 1954, the airline adopted the name of TAROM - (Transporturi Aeriene Române - Romanian Air Transport). By 1960, TAROM was flying to a dozen cities across Europe. 1966 saw the operation of its first trans-Atlantic flight. On May 14 1974, it launched a regular service to New York City - (JFK International Airport).



Being part of the group of the airlines belonging to Soviet Bloc states, TAROM operated Soviet-design Li-2, Ilyushin Il-14, Ilyushin Il-18, Ilyushin Il-62, Antonov An-24, and Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft. An exception was made when, in 1974, TAROM acquired Boeing 707 aircraft for its long haul operations, and British Aircraft BAC One Eleven in 1968 for European and Middle East destinations. In 1978 a contract was signed with the UK to manufacture the BAC One Eleven near Bucharest. Meantime the 707 and IL62 long range aircraft were operating New-York (via Amsterdam, later London and finally Vienna), Abu-Dhabi-Bangkok-Singapore, and Karachi-Beijing. TAROM was the only eastern airline to operate flights to Tel-Aviv.

The 1990s

It was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the airline was able to acquire more Western-built jets. By 1993, TAROM had introduced long haul flights to Montreal and Bangkok, using Ilyushin Il-62, and Airbus A310 aircraft.

During the 1990s, TAROM replaced its long-haul fleet of Boeing 707s and IL-62s with three new A310 jets. 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 Beijing (in 2003), Chicago (in 2002), and New York City (in 2003).

TAROM terminated loss-making domestic services to Craiova, Tulcea, Caransebeş, and Constanţa) and focused its activity on service to key destinations in Europe and the Middle East. 2004 was the first profitable year of the last decade.

Today

TAROM is recovering from a difficult period that began in the 1990s, when losses of up to $68 million a year were registered, caused by unprofitable routes. At the beginning of the new millennium, the airline initiated a program that was aimed at restoring profitability. This was achieved by terminating loss-making intercontinental services.

TAROM has decided to focus its operations on Bucharest (Henri Coandă International Airport) (OTP) and Cluj-Napoca International Airport (CLJ). Code-share agreements with foreign partner airlines are in place for several international routes. To meet competition from Carpatair, which uses the city of Timişoara in Western Romania as its hub city, TAROM has initiated direct international flights from Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Bacău. In June 2005 it was announced as one of the four future associate members of SkyTeam alliance, due to join by 2006. A fleet update program started the same year (2006) with the acquisition of the first two Airbus A318 (from a total of four ordered).

In February 2007, TAROM announced it would restart its long haul operations, by leasing 2-4 Airbus A340/A330 or Boeing 777/767 [2] and by re-introducing the 2 Airbus A310 into service. The first long-haul destination resumed could be Beijing.

The airline has a frequent flyer programme Smart Miles.

Destinations

Main article: TAROM destinations

Fleet

The TAROM fleet consists of the following aircraft as of August 2007 ^[1]

TAROM Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Business/Economy)	Routes	Notes
Airbus A310-300	2	209 (20/189)	Madrid, London, Tel Aviv	Exit from service: 2008 Replacement Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Airbus A318	2 (2 orders)	113 (14/99)	Europe
Boeing 737-300	5	116 (14/102) 124 (10/114) 138 (0/138) in charter configuration	Europe, charter
Boeing 737-700	4	116 (14/102)	Europe, Middle East, Africa
ATR 42-500	7	48 (10/38)	Domestic & short haul international routes

In November and December of 2006, Tarom took delivery of its first two Airbus A318-111 (YR-ASA and YR-ASB), becoming only the second commercial operator of this type of aircraft in Europe. The aircraft are being used on routes from Bucharest to Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris ^[2].
After reintroducing the 2 Airbus A310 to the fleet, Tarom realized their inefficiency, effectively deciding on selling them. Tarom Officials stated discussions with Airbus and Boeing are still underway, but 4 Boeing 737-800 will probably be chosen as replacements. ^[3].

Retired fleet

• Boeing 737-500 (YR-BGZ)
• Boeing 737-300 (YR-BGX "Galaţi")
• ATR 42-300 (YR-ATX "Dâmboviţa")
• DC-10 (OO-JOT)
• Ilyushin Il-62
• BAC One-Eleven
• ROMBAC 1-11
• Ilyushin Il-18
• Tupolev Tu-154
• Antonov An-24
• Boeing 707
• Ilyushin Il-14

Maintenance

TAROM - Technical Division is an aircraft maintenance provider. It employs 800 staff and specializes in maintaining ATR, Boeing 737 series, Airbus A310 and A320 aircraft. ^[4] Other maintenance providers in Romania are Aerostar SA in Bacău and Romaero located at Băneasa Airport, Bucharest.

Codeshare agreements

The company has code-share agreements with the following airlines (July 2007)^[5]:

TAROM - codeshare agreements

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroflot	Moscow
Air France	Paris
Air Moldova	Chişinău
Alitalia	Cluj, Milan, Rome, Timişoara
Austrian Airlines	Geneva, Iaşi, New York-JFK, Sibiu, Timişoara, Toronto, Vienna, Washington-Dulles, Zürich
Brussels Airlines	Brussels
Iberia Airlines	Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw
Malév	Budapest, Constanţa
Syrian Arab Airlines	Aleppo, Damascus

Alliances

In 2006 TAROM was scheduled to join SkyTeam as an associate member (sponsored by Alitalia), but the entry into the alliance is postponed until at least 2007.

Livery

• The TAROM logo, representing a swallow in flight, has been used on all TAROM aircraft since 1954.
• In the 1970s livery the logo on the tail was painted in red, with a red cheatline.
• The livery introduced in the early 1990s on the Airbus A310 aircraft) is an eurowhite scheme with the titles and the tailfin painted in dark blue.
• Today's color scheme (introduced in 2006 on the A318) is a slightly modified version of the previous one, with an oversized logo on the tailfin, and the engines also painted in dark blue.
• All aircraft in the TAROM fleet receive a "name" which is a Romanian toponym. For instance, the names of the ATR aircraft in the fleet are related to the rivers of Romania, the Boeing aircraft bear names of Romanian cities, the Airbus long-haul aircraft bear Romanian historical province names, while the new Airbus A318 bear names of Romanian aviation pioneers ^[6]
• List of TAROM aircraft names and registration:

TAROM Fleet - Names and Registration

Aircraft	Registration	Name
Airbus A310-300	YR-LCA	"Transilvania"
	YR-LCB	"Moldova"
Airbus A318	YR-ASA	"Aurel Vlaicu"
	YR-ASB	"Traian Vuia"
	YR-ASC *	"Henri Coandă"
	YR-ASD *	"Smaranda Brăescu"
Boeing 737-300	YR-BGA	"Alba-Iulia"
	YR-BGB	"Bucureşti"
	YR-BGC	"Constanţa"
	YR-BGD	"Deva"
	YR-BGE	"Timişoara"
Boeing 737-700	YR-BGF	"Brăila"
	YR-BGG	"Craiova"
	YR-BGH	"Hunedoara"
	YR-BGI	"Iaşi"
ATR 42-500	YR-ATA	"Dunărea"
	YR-ATB	"Bistriţa"
	YR-ATC	"Mureş"
	YR-ATD	"Criş"
	YR-ATE	"Olt"
	YR-ATF	"Argeş"
	YR-ATG	"Dâmboviţa"

* not yet delivered

Incidents and accidents

The most serious accident in TAROM history occurred on 31 March 1995 when an Airbus A310-324 (YR-LCC "Muntenia") - operating a Bucharest to Brussels service - crashed soon after the take-off, killing all people onboard. See Tarom Flight 371. Several other TAROM incidents, some with fatalities, are recorded by the Aircraft Crash Record Office [3]

See also

• Aviation in Romania
• Transport in Romania

References

External links

• TAROM Official webpage
• Photos on airliners.net

•  • [ e] Members of the SkyTeam Alliance
Aeroflot  Aeromxico  Air France  Alitalia  Continental Airlines  Czech Airlines  Delta Air Lines  KLM  Korean Air  Northwest Airlines Associate members: Air Europa  Copa Airlines  Kenya Airways Future members: China Southern Airlines Future associate members: MEA  TAROM

•  • [ e] Airlines of Romania
Blue Air Carpatair Eurojet Romania Jet Tran Air Romavia TAROM Ţiriac Air

•  • [ e] Members of the Association of European Airlines

Adria Airways  Aer Lingus  Air France  Air One  Air Malta  Alitalia  Austrian Airlines  BMI  British Airways  Brussels Airlines  Cargolux  Croatia Airlines  CSA Czech Airlines  Cyprus Airways  Finnair  Iberia Airlines  Icelandair  Jat Airways  KLM  LOT Polish Airlines  Lufthansa  Luxair  Malv Hungarian Airlines  Olympic Airlines  Scandinavian Airlines System  Spanair  Swiss  TAP Portugal  TAROM  Turkish Airlines  Virgin Atlantic Airways

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