The number of passengers shrank due to the restrictions put in place by various countries, so only 1.8 million people flew with Blue Air in 2020, compared with 4.1 million in 2019.
The company also posted RON212 million loss last year, after making profit for the first time in a few years in 2019, as the pandemic upset its growth plans.
Blue Air was in the red in 2016-2018, with losses standing at RON121 million to RON145 million. The year 2019 was its first profitable year, with the airline posting RON72 million net profit. Blue Air posted RON57 million revenue in the first quarter of this year, as well as RON91 million loss.
“The prolonged crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has critical effects on the industry and the company, with challenges remaining the travel restrictions of various European countries, the lack of predictability in travel planning and the reluctance to travel due to the health risks,” the airline representatives said.
Despite the pandemic induced crisis, Blue Air plans to refresh fleet with ten 737 MAX aircraft by the end of 2022, upgrade its IT infrastructure and develop a mobile Blue Air app.
The airline officials do not expect a return to 2019 level to happen any sooner than 2023.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)