Romanian airline Blue Air has agreed to acquire Air Moldova. The process is taking place following the privatisation of the Moldovan flag carrier. Blue Air, in addition to a group of investors, has offered a price of €2,560,000 for the airline, while also agreeing to take on the airline's €61,500,000 worth of debt. It has been reported that Blue Air will look to continue the Moldovan carrier's operations as they currently stand.

Improving Customer Perception

Blue Air's vision for Air Moldova is that things will continue very much like business as usual. There is currently no plan to change any of the routes operated by either firm at the present. Instead, Blue Air would like to improve the public perception of Air Moldova, while simultaneously improving the airline's performance. Air Moldova currently operates a fleet of 7 aircraft, serving a network of 29 routes. With the fleet made up of Airbus and Embraer aircraft, they will be in direct contrast to Blue Air's fleet of all Boeing 737 aircraft. Blue Air operates 30 B737 aircraft of varying designation. They are also awaiting delivery of 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft which the airline has ordered.

Proud To Have Air Moldova

Marius Puiu, Blue Air’s CEO, commented that he was proud to have Air Moldova joining the Blue Air family. In a press release, he said: “We are very proud to have Air Moldova in our big Blue Air family and we are very happy to be here, in the Centennial Year. The international success of Blue Air gives us the opportunity to put our experience at work for the future of Air Moldova. Last but not least, this development brings benefits for the local employment market, tourism and the overall community ”

Blue Air's Hubs

Blue Air's new acquisition will see the Romanian Airline complimenting its operations. The airline currently operates flights to over 100 destinations with 9 operating bases spread across Europe. The airline is currently operating with a revenue of €415 million in 2017. In fact, the company is doing so well that it increased its income by almost 1.5 times from 2016 when the turnover was €300 million. While 5 of the airline's hubs are in Romania, Blue Air also operates a hub in The United Kingdom, in addition to Cyprus and Italy. In a move similar to Ryanair, the low-cost carrier typically flies to secondary airports.

This is slightly different to the operation that Air Moldova run, who operate a different network from one hub. In addition to some secondary airports such as London Stansted, the airline also operates flights to airports such as Dubai international, and Frankfurt Airport. In addition to 6 routes which are operated as a charter, Air Moldova also operates 3 seasonal routes.

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