Blue Air

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Romanian low-cost airline

title: "Blue Air" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["defunct-airlines-of-romania", "airlines-established-in-2004", "airlines-disestablished-in-2023", "european-low-fares-airline-association", "defunct-low-cost-airlines", "defunct-european-low-cost-airlines", "companies-based-in-bucharest", "romanian-brands", "romanian-companies-established-in-2004"] description: "Romanian low-cost airline" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Air" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Romanian low-cost airline ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox airline"]

FieldValue
airlineBlue Air
logoBlue-Air logo-01.svg
logo_size200
IATA0B
ICAOBLA
callsignBLUE AIR
founded2004
commenced2004
ceased6 September 2022 (suspension)
21 March 2023 (insolvency)
aocRO-055
hubsHenri Coandă International Airport
bases
headquartersBucharest, Romania
key_peopleCristian Rada, CEO
frequent_flyerMy Blue
fleet_size2
destinations75
revenue€108 million (2020)
net_income€81.1 million (2020)
websiteflyblueair.com
parentState-owned (75 %)
num_employees806 (2020)
::

| airline = Blue Air | logo = Blue-Air logo-01.svg | logo_size = 200 | IATA = 0B | ICAO = BLA | callsign = BLUE AIR | founded = 2004 | commenced = 2004 | ceased = 6 September 2022 (suspension) 21 March 2023 (insolvency) | aoc = RO-055 | hubs = Henri Coandă International Airport | focus_cities = | bases =

  • Henri Coandă International Airport | headquarters = Bucharest, Romania|| | key_people = Cristian Rada, CEO | frequent_flyer = My Blue | lounge = | alliance = | fleet_size = 2 | destinations = 75 | revenue = €108 million (2020) | net_income = €81.1 million (2020) | website = flyblueair.com | parent = State-owned (75 %) | num_employees = 806 (2020) | image =

Blue Air was with its hub at Henri Coandă International Airport. It was the largest Romanian airline by scheduled passengers flown. In 2017, Blue Air carried over 5 million passengers, a 40% increase over the 3.6 million passengers flown the previous year. As of September 2022, Blue Air served 75 scheduled destinations in 21 countries.

Blue Air was forced to suspend all operations on 6 September 2022. In November 2022, its license was suspended, and the now-dormant airline was nationalized in December 2022. In March 2023, Blue Air subsequently filed for insolvency.

History

Foundation and early years

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/YR-BAA_(23111340095)_(2).jpg" caption="Blue Air [[Boeing 737-300]] (registered YR-BAA) in 2010 showcasing an older livery"] ::

Founded by Nelu Iordache, Blue Air started operating in December 2004. Blue Air initially operated domestic and international flights, although domestic services were soon discontinued due to low sales and competition from TAROM, as well as Căile Ferate Române, the Romanian rail company. Blue Air resumed domestic operations in 2015, starting with Bucharest to Iași flights.

On 12 April 2013, Blue Air's management announced that the airline was for sale. On 17 May 2013, the company was purchased by four Romanian shareholders, and BlueAir Transport Aerian SA's flight operations were transferred to Blue Air – Airline Management Solution SRL, a company that bailed the business out with EUR 30 million. In 2015, Blue Air reported a net profit of EUR 6 million, contrasting to the company's loss of EUR 400,000 in 2014.

The airline transported 1.5 million passengers in 2014, an increase from the 1.35 million passengers in 2013. In 2015, the airline transported for the first time more than 2 million passengers. With a total of 25 new routes announced for 2016, the airline forecasts carrying close to three million passengers in 2016.

Blue Air became a full member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on 19 January 2016. Furthermore, Blue Air received the IATA Operational Safety Audit certification in December 2015, being a member of the IATA Clearing House.

In March 2017, Blue Air started a base in Liverpool John Lennon Airport, operating to 8 destinations across Europe. Blue Air also created a 'welcome to Liverpool' Livery for their Boeing 737-800 aircraft (YR-BMH). This aircraft included slogans such as 'Cool city, Warm welcome' and 'Liverpool Music city' to help use the aircraft to promote its new base in Liverpool, England, by flying this logo jet across Europe. This aircraft is also the only full special livery aircraft within the Blue Air fleet.

Since November 2017, with the entry into force of the Territorial Continuity in Sardinia, Blue Air connects the Alghero airport with the Rome-Fiumicino Airport, a route operated in the past by Alitalia. The airline, following a conference held at Alghero Airport in early November, announced that the Riviera del Corallo became his fourth international base of operations, after those in Torino, Liverpool and Larnaca. In January 2018, Blue Air planned to launch a new subsidiary in the Czech Republic, known as Blue Air Moravia; however, this never took place.

Developments since 2018

In 2018, the legal status of the company was changed, from a limited liability company to a joint-stock company; it also changed its legal name to Blue Air Aviation SA. In that same year (2018), Civil Aviation Group (a joint venture between Moldovan investors and Blue Air) won the privatization process of Moldova's airline, Air Moldova, for the sum of 50 millions MDL (2.56 million EUR). Civil Aviation Group took over Air Moldova's debts, worth 1.2 billion Moldovan lei (61 million euro).

On 6 July 2020, Blue Air filed for bankruptcy protection after a steep decrease in revenue which was only partially balanced by a 65 Million Euro loan received as state aid from the Romanian government.

In November 2020, the airline announced the retirement of their Boeing 737-300s and -500s and replace them with additional leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Suspension of operations

On 6 September 2022, it was announced that Blue Air was forced to suspend all operations for at least six days, following the seizure of the airline's accounts by the Romanian authorities. Prior to this event there had already been arguments between the airline and the state after a high-ranking official advised against buying tickets from the airline.

On 7 September, the assets were released by the government, with Blue Air planning to resume reduced operations with just five aircraft in the near future. However, shortly afterwards, Blue Air announced the suspension of all flights until at least 10 October 2022, as the airline was currently not able to afford fuel and other services. On 30 September 2022, the airline removed its entire route network from sale. Shortly afterwards, all five of the airline's Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft were reallocated to LOT Polish Airlines by their lessor. As of October 2022, Blue Air did not plan to resume operations earlier than late 2022.

In November 2022, it was announced that Blue Air would be nationalized, with the Romanian state taking over 75 percent of shares, as the currently dormant airline was unable to pay back a state loan. During the same time, the airline's operational license was suspended, but not revoked.

In December 2022, Blue Air was indeed nationalized, with the Romanian state contemplating an onward sale of its confiscated 75 percent share to an investor. Shortly after, it was reported that the dormant airline had accumulated up to €250 million in debt.

On 21 March 2023, Blue Air filed for insolvency.

Business trends

::data[format=table]

200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202045810815-1.623141,145806
Turnover (€m)245095124140150149137135148199291412495
Net profit (€m)---------5.9
Number of passengers (m)---1.11.721.51.51.51.371.62.053.65.15.2
Number of aircraft (at year end)34561088881115242925
Number of employees--------4375045859211,2401,121
Notes/sources
::

Operations

Bases

Blue Air has used Bucharest as its primary hub for most of its history. Initially, the airline's hub was located at the Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (Băneasa), until the airport became overcrowded and was increasingly surrounded by urban development. This fact led to the airport's closure for commercial airlines in 2012; the airport was not closed officially, but the operating taxes for airlines were suddenly increased until no airline could afford them. As a result, all airlines moved their operations to Bucharest's largest airport, Henri Coandă International Airport. Blue Air then used this airport as its primary hub until its demise.

As of February 2022, the other bases of Blue Air were located in Romania and Italy:

Blue Air also used to have additional base operations at other Romanian and European airports. A base was maintained at Liverpool John Lennon Airport between 2017 and February 2019. They also had a base at Alghero–Fertilia Airport which was inaugurated in 2017 and closed in April 2019. The base at Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport, which was maintained since April 2017 closed in 2019 as well. The base at Larnaca International Airport closed in September 2020, the one at Iași International Airport shut down in November 2020. However, prior to the shutdown of operations, Iași was planned to be reestablished as an operational base from 2023, inaugurating 14 routes.

Destinations

As of September 2022, prior to the suspension of operations, Blue Air offered flights to 75 scheduled destinations in 21 countries. The airline also operated ad-hoc and seasonal charters on behalf of other companies.

Codeshare agreements

Blue Air maintained codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Blue_Air,_Boeing_737-5L9,YR-BAG-FCO(24583000364).jpg" caption="Boeing 737-500"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Boeing_737-8BK,_Blue_Air_JP6875833.jpg" caption="Boeing 737-800]] wearing an older livery version"] ::

Final fleet

As of January 2023, after significantly downsizing its numbers, the Blue Air fleet consisted of the following aircraft prior to ceasing operations:

::data[format=table title="Blue Air fleet"]

AircraftNumberOrdersPassengersNotesTotal2—
Boeing 737-5002—120Both currently stored.
::

Historical fleet

Since its first flight, Blue Air formerly also operated the following types of aircraft:

::data[format=table]

AircraftIntroducedRetiredNotes
Boeing 737-30020042021
Boeing 737-40020062020
Boeing 737-70020152022Removed from service after the suspension of operations.
Boeing 737-80020082022Removed from service after the suspension of operations.
Boeing 737 MAX 820212022Returned to lessor after the suspension of operations.
Saab 34020092013Operated by Direct Aero Services.
Saab 200020092009Leased from Carpatair.
::

References

References

  1. (27 May 2022). "OPERATORI AERIENI ROMÂNI CERTIFICAŢI/AUTORIZAŢI ROMANIAN CERTIFIED/AUTHORIZED AIR OPERATORS 27.05.2022".
  2. Concept, Openmind. "Contact {{!}} Blue Air".
  3. [https://tickets.pl/avia/airline/0B tickets.pl - Blue Air flies to Bucharest airport] 21 March 2017
  4. "Compania aeriană românească Blue Air a depăşit pragul de 5 milioane de pasageri {{!}} Ziarul Financiar".
  5. Stefan, Teodor. (21 January 2018). "Peste 5 milioane de pasageri au ales Blue Air in 2017".
  6. (25 May 2016). "Nelu Iordache își vrea Blue Air înapoi".
  7. [https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/251073/blue-air-adds-new-iasi-routes-in-w15/ routesonline.com - Blue Air Adds New Iasi Routes in W15] 21 September 2015
  8. "Compania aeriană Blue Air, scoasă la vânzare".
  9. (3 June 2016). "Romanian low-cost airline posts record turnover".
  10. (6 January 2015). "Blue Air Estimează Că A Transportat 1,5 Milioane de Pasageri În 2014".
  11. (23 December 2015). "Peste 2 milioane de pasageri transportati de Blue Air in 2015".
  12. dcnews. (8 July 2016). "Blue Air "suflă" în ceafa TAROM".
  13. (4 February 2016). "Blue Air joins IATA – Airlines International Blue Air joins IATA".
  14. (3 December 2015). "Blue Air a primit certificarea IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)".
  15. [https://www.iata.org/services/finance/clearinghouse/Documents/ich-members-list.pdf IATA Clearing House Members List]
  16. [https://airlinegeeks.com/2017/03/04/blue-air-boosts-liverpool-partnership-with-special-paint-scheme/ airlinegeeks.com - Blue Air Boosts Liverpool Partnership With Special Paint Scheme] 4 March 2017
  17. [https://worldairlinenews.com/2018/01/01/blue-air-to-fly-paris-cdg-turin-establishes-blue-air-moravia-in-brno/ Blue Air Moravia]
  18. (9 August 2018). "Romania's largest airline Blue Air becomes joint venture, changes name to Blue Air Aviation".
  19. (2 October 2018). "Civil Aviation Group takes over Air Moldova for 50 mln Moldovan lei".
  20. [https://www.aerotelegraph.com/blue-air-rettet-sich-in-glaeubigerschutz aerotelegraph.com] (German) 7 July 2020
  21. (6 November 2020). "Blue Air adds one more Boeing 737-800ng to its fleet". boardingpass.ro.
  22. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/119113-romanias-blue-air-suspends-operations-blames-the-state ch-aviation.com - Romania's Blue Air suspends operations, blames the state] 6 September 2022
  23. [https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/romanian-carrier-blue-air-grounded-by-government travelweekly.co.uk - Romanian carrier Blue Air grounded by government] 6 September 2022
  24. [https://www.aerotelegraph.com/blue-air-muss-alle-fluege-einstellen aerotelegraph.com] (German) 6 September 2022
  25. [https://www.aerotelegraph.com/blue-air-plant-neustart-mit-fuenf-flugzeugen aerotelegraph.com] (German) 9 September 2022
  26. [https://www.aerotelegraph.com/blue-air-verschiebt-neustart-auf-oktober aerotelegraph.com - Blue Air delays restart to October] (German) 12 September 2022
  27. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/119979-romanias-blue-air-removes-all-flights-from-sale ch-aviation.com - Romania's Blue Air removes all flights from sale] 30 September 2022
  28. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/120091-polands-lot-adds-ex-blue-air-b737-8s-as-interim-solution ch-aviation.com - Poland's LOT adds ex-Blue Air B737-8s as interim solution] 6 October 2022
  29. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/120419-romanias-blue-air-to-remain-dormant-through-late-4q22-ceo ch-aviation.com - Romania's Blue Air to remain dormant through late 4Q22 - CEO] 14 October 2022
  30. [https://www.airliners.de/blue-air-verstaatlicht/66953 airliners.de] (German) 21 November 2022
  31. [https://www.airliners.de/betriebsgenehmigung-blue-air-ruht/67026 airliners.de] (German) 25 November 2022
  32. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/122855-bucharest-nationalises-blue-air-mulls-sale-to-us-investor ch-aviation.com - Bucharest nationalises Blue Air, mulls sale to US investor] 27 December 2022
  33. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/123730-romanias-blue-air-loses-us-investor-debts-may-top-250mn ch-aviation.com - Romania's Blue Air loses US investor, debts may top €250mn] 23 January 2023
  34. [https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-blue-air-insolvency-march-2023 romania-insider.com - Romanian airline Blue Air enters insolvency] 22 March 2023
  35. (10 December 2014). "10 ani de Blue Air. Compania închide anul 2014 pe profit şi cu afaceri de 150 de milioane de euro".
  36. (21 January 2014). "O companie aeriană din România e în top cinci mondial al operatorilor low-cost cu cele mai vechi avioane".
  37. [http://aeronews.ro/aproape-3-6-milioane-pasageri-au-ales-blue-air-in-2016/ Aproape 3.6 milioane pasageri au ales Blue Air in 2016 ], ''Aeronews.ro'', Retrieved on 27 January 2017
  38. "Blue Air Aviation SA".
  39. (2 June 2016). "Afacerile Blue Air au depăşit pentru prima dată pragul de 200 de milioane de euro în 2015".
  40. "Blue Air atacă ANPC după amendă cu acuzații șoc - Nu suntem dispuși să dăm nici ceasuri, nici procente din sumă!".
  41. (5 March 2012). "Închiderea aeroportului Băneasa dezvăluie o comoară imobiliară de un miliard de euro". Ziarul Financiar.
  42. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map".
  43. [https://boardingpass.ro/blue-air-anunta-12-rute-noi-care-vor-fi-operate-din-cluj-napoca-in-2021/?source=aa boardingpass.ro - RUTE AERIENEBlue Air anunță 12 rute noi care vor fi operate din Cluj Napoca în 2021] (Romanian) 21 October 2020
  44. [https://seenews.com/news/romanias-blue-air-to-station-second-aircraft-at-turin-base-in-sept-709588 seenews.com - Romania's Blue Air to station second aircraft at Turin base in Sept] 11 August 2020
  45. "LJLA to become Blue Air's latest European base bringing more flights, more international visitors and more jobs at LJLA". Liverpool Airport.
  46. [https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/romania-aviation-part-3-blue-air-opens-liverpool-base-and-creates-new-markets-tarom-feels-the-heat-314088 centreforaviation.com - Romania aviation Part 3: Blue Air opens Liverpool base and creates new markets; TAROM feels the heat] 21 November 2016
  47. "Compania aeriană românească Blue Air a depăşit pragul de 5 milioane de pasageri".
  48. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map".
  49. (28 January 2019). "Cagliari, nuova continuità territoriale al via: In vendita i biglietti per Roma e Milano".
  50. "Compania aeriană românească Blue Air a depăşit pragul de 5 milioane de pasageri". Ziarul Financiar.
  51. [https://boardingpass.ro/oficial-blue-air-inchide-in-15-septembrie-2020-baza-din-larnaca/ boardingpass.ro - RUTE AERIENEOficial: Blue Air închide în 15 septembrie 2020 baza din Larnaca] (Romanian) 3 September 2020
  52. [https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/97391-romanias-blue-air-axes-iasi-base-to-relocate-euro-ops ch-aviation.com - Romania's Blue Air axes Iasi base; to relocate Euro ops] 17 November 2020
  53. [https://boardingpass.ro/blue-air-planifica-14-rute-noi-din-iasi-pentru-vara-anului-2023/ boardingpass.ro - Blue Air planifică 14 rute noi din Iași pentru vara anului 2023] (Romanian) 12 August 2022
  54. [https://www.flyblueair.com/en/gb/map/ flyblueair.com - Map] {{Webarchive. link. (2021-04-20 retrieved 6 September 2022)
  55. [https://www.flyblueair.com/de/de/charters/ flyblueair.com - Charters] retrieved 1 October 2022
  56. [https://newsroom.aviator.aero/cyprus-airways-and-blue-air-launch-code-share-partnership/ newsroom.aviator.aero - Cyprus Airways and Blue Air Launch code-share partnership] 28 November 2018
  57. "Blue Air – Fleet".

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defunct-airlines-of-romaniaairlines-established-in-2004airlines-disestablished-in-2023european-low-fares-airline-associationdefunct-low-cost-airlinesdefunct-european-low-cost-airlinescompanies-based-in-bucharestromanian-brandsromanian-companies-established-in-2004