Ofer Kisch, Lufthansa manager for CEE, said the increase even exceeded 50% in certain months. The year 2010 was difficult for the company and 2011 was better by comparison, he explained.
Kisch took over as manager for CEE early this year, having previously served the company in Israel and Turkey. He says almost 40% of Lufthansa’s passengers come from companies with which the airline is in contract.
Lufthansa’s positive evolution comes as traffic on Romania’s largest airports increased 5% in June, July and August: almost 2.5 million Romanians boarded and landed on the airports Henri Coanda (Otopeni), Aurel Vlaicu (Baneasa), Traian Vuia (Timisoara) and Iasi, according to a ZF analysis.
Kisch admits that passenger traffic will not grow by 50% next year as well, but probably by 7-15%.
Last year, Lufthansa carried 615,000 passengers on the Romanian market, 10% more than in 2009. This year’s increase will exceed the company’s initial expectations of another 10%. These figures, however, only refer to Lufthansa, the airline.
The Lufthansa group also includes Austrian Airlines and Swiss, and last year transported one million passengers on the local market. The latest official estimates for this year say the group will carry 1.1 million passengers, 10% up on the year.
The group operates 140 weekly flights in Romania – 97 through Lufthansa, 44 through Austrian Airlines and seven through Swiss. Romania is its second most important market by total number of flights, after Poland, where it operates 216.
Kisch’s strategy for this winter is to bring foreign tourists to Romania. To this end, he is looking for an important tour operator, which believes in Romania’s potential and wants to promote it in partnership with Lufthansa.
The airline’s Romanian passengers take off in Timisoara, Cluj, Iasi, Sibiu and Bucharest, and head mainly to Europe (more than 60%). The next destination popular with Romanians is America, according to Kisch. Lufthansa currently does not operate direct flights from Romania across the Atlantic – they require a layover in Germany.
(English version by Radu Bostan)