September 6 (SeeNews) - Romanian low-cost carrier Blue-Air said on Tuesday it has signed a strategic codeshare agreement with local peer AirConnect for both internal and regional flights.
The two companies will launch their codeshare partnership on September 12, with the aim to optimise costs, improve connectivity and explore further synergies within the regional market, Blue Air said in a press release.
"Air Connect provides a cost-effective platform and allows us to continue to offer a wide portfolio of routes and increased frequencies to passengers traveling on domestic routes and to passengers connecting to Blue Air's key markets in Europe through our main base in Bucharest," Blue Air CEO Cristian Rada said.
As part of the agreement, Blue Air will transfer the operation of selected domestic and international services within the EU to AirConnect.
Blue Air expects to achieve cost savings of 15-20% by using AirConnect's ATR-72 aircraft on regional and shuttle services.
"Our passengers will immediately benefit from an expanded portfolio of destinations and better connectivity from secondary airports in Romania and, soon, from outside the country," AirConnect CEO Tudor Constantinescu said.
AirConnect was established earlier this year by local entrepreneurs Dorin Ivascu, Tudor Constantinescu and Florin Necula.
The airline announced in July that starting this autumn, it will launch domestic flights, which will connect regional airports with nearby hubs. The first targeted cities are Bucharest, Oradea, Arad, Timisoara, Craiova, Targu Mures, Sibiu and Baia Mare.
Blue Air, the only air carrier in Romania with 100% domestic capital, started operations in December 2004. In July, Romania's consumer protection authority fined Blue Air with 2 million euro ($2 million) for cancelling over 11,000 flights over a 12-month period.
At the end of October, Ridgecrest, an AIM-listed cash shell, terminated negotiations on its proposed reverse takeover of Blue Air. The decision was a consequence of the airline's inability to raise the pre-reverse takeover funding, which was was the main condition of the non-binding heads of agreement between Ridgecrest and Blue Air's vendors announced in July, Ridgecrest said at the time.
($=1.004 euro)