Romania's flag carrier TAROM is selling 14 aircraft out of its fleet of 29, and all three aircraft types in its fleet are on sale. This includes its four Airbus A318s. The prices of the 14 aircraft range from $1.5 million to $14 million.

TAROM puts half of its fleet up for sale

TAROM has announced its intention to sell 14 aircraft with details published in a document seen by Simple Flying. The Romanian national airline has 29 aircraft, so this asset sale will halve its fleet. The news comes as part of the restructuring process that TAROM is undergoing.

The news also signifies that TAROM is retiring three of its aircraft types in full. The Romanian flag carrier looks to be simplifying its aircraft range and unifying its fleet.

The aircraft that have been put on sale are as follows

  • Four Airbus A318-111s: YR-ASA, YR-ASB, YR-ASC, YR-ASD
  • Four Boeing 737-300s: YR-BGA, YR-BGB, YR-BGD, YR-BGE
  • Four Boeing 737-700s: YR-BGF, YR-BGG, YR-BGH, YR-BGI
  • Two ATR 42-500s: YR-ATC, YR-ATF

Apart from these, TAROM also has in its fleet the following aircraft:

  • Five ATR 42-500s
  • Four Boeing 737-800s in two different configurations
  • Four ATR 72-600s
  • Two ATR 72-500s

As part of its restructuring plan, TAROM will be removing some of these aircraft from its fleet too. The initial plan is that all aircraft but Boeing 737-800s and ATR 72-600s will go, and this will involve returning the ATR 42-500s and its ATR 72-500s back to Nordic Aviation Capital.

TAROM ATR72
TAROM is not selling its ATR72-500, but it will return them to Nordic Aviation Capital. Photo: Duch.seb via Wikimedia Commons

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What are the prices of TAROM's aircraft?

The prices at which TAROM has listed its aircraft vary between $1.5 million and $14 million.

The cheapest aircraft on sale is YU-BGA, a Boeing 737-300 manufactured on 1st September 1993, on sale for $1,483,234. Conversely, another B737-300s manufactured in 1994, YU-BGE, is on sale for $6,428,000.

The Airbus A318s, all manufactured between 2006 and 2007, are selling for just $6.5 million.

The ATR42-500s, manufactured between 1997 and 1998, are selling for $3,918,000.

The Boeing 737-700s manufactured in 2001, YR-BGF and YR-BGG, are selling for $10,700,000 each. The 737-700s manufactured in 2003, YR-BGH and YR-BGI, are selling for $14 million and $13 million respectively.

TAROM Airlines A318
TAROM was not doing well financially even before COVID-19. Photo: Getty Images

A simplified fleet

If the sale is completed successfully, TAROM will have a simplified fleet in line with its planned restructuring process. The Romanian airline's future fleet will consist only of Boeing and ATR aircraft.

Of these two aircraft types, there will be fewer sub-types too: only Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX will remain as Boeing aircraft, and ATR 72-600 will be the only sub-type of TAROM's ATR aircraft.

As Simple Flying analyzed previously, there has been some concern that the European Union would not allow the state of Romania to provide financial support to TAROM. This is because the loss-making airline has posted a loss of 40 million Euros in 2019 and a loss of 28 million Euros in 2018.

What do you think of this story? Will TAROM return to making profits after it simplifies its fleet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.