June 21 (SeeNews) - Romanian flag carrier Tarom will buy nine ATR aircraft in order to replace seven old ones, the transport ministry said on Friday.
"We will replace the ATR-42-500 aircraft which have 48 seats with ATR-72 aircraft, which have 72 seats. Practically, we will replace aircraft that are 20-22 years ago old with new aircraft," transport minister Razvan Cuc said in a televised statement broadcast by local Digi24.
Cuc said that the ATR-72 is equipped with modern navigation devices that meet the equipment requirements that will become mandatory in June 2020.
At the same time, the minister said there is no need for additional staff to handle the new aircraft.
The new aircraft benefit from a five-year warranty, which means they will not generate additional maintenance costs, Cuc added.
On Thursday, Tarom named Madalina Daniela Mezei as its new CEO, to replace the company's interim head Maresi Caravan.
Tarom is operating on international and domestic routes with a fleet of 25 aircraft - seven ATR-42-500 , two ATR-72, 4 Boeing 737-700, 4 Boeing 737-300, 4 Boeing 737-800 NG, and 4 Airbus A318-111.
The air carrier's net loss narrowed to 130 million lei ($31 million/ 28 million euro) in 2018 from 170 million lei in the previous year, while turnover rose by 21% to 1.4 billion lei, data from Romania's transport ministry showed.
ATR is a Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer headquartered on the grounds of Toulouse Blagnac International Airport in Blagnac, in France.
(1 euro=4.7287 lei)