October 22 (SeeNews) - Romanian low-cost carrier Blue Air plans to launch seven new international routes from Bacau starting December 2020 and 13 from Cluj-Napoca as from March 2021.
Starting December 2020, Blue Air will fly from Bacau to Athens, Barcelona, Cologne, Larnaca, Madrid, Munich and Paris, it said in a press release on Wednesday.
"We are investing a lot of time and effort in the development of regional hubs and in the transformation of the company in the ULC carrier. The Blue Air Bacau base is the best expression of this commitment: 11 years, over 30,000 flights, over 4 million passengers who have flown with Blue Air from and to Bacau," Blue Air chief commercial officer Krassimir Tanev said.
Startring March 2021, Blue Air will fly from the northerstern city of Cluj to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin, Hamburg, Cologne, Larnaca, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome and Stuttgart.
Blue Air expects the new routes will optimize travel options in the Cluj region by offering efficient connections with European destinations of major interest for both the business and leisure segments.
On Wednesday, the Romanian Senate rejected a government proposal to grant Blue Air a 300 million lei ($73 million/62 million euro) loan to help it avoid bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, information posted on the website of the Senate showed.
The lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, will have the final say on the matter.
Earlier this month, the finance ministry announced that state-owned EximBank is prepared to extend the loan to Blue Air. The European Commission approved the loan under its state aid rules in August.
In July, Blue Air announced that the Bucharest municipal court has approved its request to enter a concordat procedure with its creditors in order to avoid insolvency.
(1 euro=4.8730 lei)