Who would have thought Bucharest’s Magheru Boulevard could be anything but crowded to anyone? After years of working in Mumbai, the Indian metropolis with 15 million inhabitants, Romania’s capital appears “sensational” and “without compare.”
Mehmet Akif Kilic has been running Turkish Airline’s operations in Romania for more than three years and is not thinking about leaving. When he came to the country, Turkish Airlines had a daily flight to Istanbul; at the end of 2008, it had two, and as of this summer, it has three flights to and from Istanbul every day. Kilic admits that the stronger marketing of the rivals at Lufthansa and Air France KLM has made passengers choose Frankfurt, Munich, Paris or Amsterdam as their connection to Asian destinations, despite adding several hours to the flight time. However, flights from Istanbul to Asia were not as frequent.
“Things have changed and we are gaining ground every day,” says Kilic, before listing the daily flights to China or Japan as an argument for increased traffic from Romania to Istanbul. He points out the former imperial capital’s geostrategic advantage – “a link between north and south, and east and west” – which he intends to fully utilize.
Emirates and Qatar Airways have also joined the battle for Asian passengers, turning Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha into important hubs in the Middle East. Qatar’s aggressive expansion in the last two years has also put Bucharest on their map.
Since January, an Airbus A320 flies four times a week from Doha to Budapest via Bucharest-Otopeni. Turkish has the advantage, says Kilic, because it is uncomfortable for passengers to interrupt their night flight midway, rather than traveling on especially designed long-distance aircraft. A flight to Asia means one hour to Istanbul and another eight to the destination. A stopover in the Middle East would entail two flights of four-five hours with smaller aircraft. “Some Arab airports are smaller, the climate is different and some companies do not operate directly on the Romanian market, meaning more expensive tickets.”
The Bucharest-Istanbul flight uses a “narrow-body” aircraft – Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A320 – which has a capacity of about 150 seats; usually more than 75% are occupied. Turkish introduced a third flight because many passengers wanted a connection with Istanbul early in the day, so they could set business meetings in the morning, Kilic explains. Furthermore, this also helps connect to destinations in western Europe and America.
The 6.10 flight links with flights to Sao Paolo, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington. The traditional hubs to transatlantic destinations are London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, but Turkish has its own arguments in favor of bringing Romanians less to western Europe and more often to Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. Beyond the price, comfort makes the difference, and the new aircraft bought for long-haul flights provide Internet connections, TV and flat bed seats, company officials say. Istanbul’s offer also attracts passengers of European destinations renounced by TAROM for cost reasons, like Lisbon, Oslo, Malaga, Valencia.
Otopeni is currently the best airport for Turkish, which does not yet believe any other Romanian airport could bring the same traffic. “Fees are higher, some companies have closed down, but we are trying to increase passenger volumes and profitability, although airport services are expected to become more expensive again in 2012,” says Kilic, referring to a recent decision by Finnair to terminate its direct flights to Romania.
As long as Turkish’s planes keep flying with their current occupancy rate, it is likely the airline will add a fourth daily flight to Istanbul, says Kilic. The company’s plans are likely to be implemented, since there are eight daily coaches to Istanbul, beside the three flights operated by Turkish Airlines, two by TAROM and one by low-cost operator Pegasus – “there is room for growth for everyone, because the Romania-Turkey relationship has a long tradition.”
(English version by Radu Bostan)