Romanian airline HiSky Europe will lease an Airbus A330-200 from Air Lease Corporation (ALC), the airline has announced this Tuesday. It will be the airline’s maiden widebody, which it said will allow it to start long-haul flights.
The delivery of the aircraft is expected by the and of the year, said HiSky, which claimed it will be the first Moldovan-Romanian airline in over 20 years to operate «regular, direct long-haul flights». State-owned TAROM left the long-haul business in 2003, when it dropped its loss-making routes from Bucharest to Beijing and New York.
In a press release, HiSky outlined the A330’s range as allowing it to operate flights from «any point in Europe to both the American continent and farther destinations in Asia and the Middle East».
The airline did not disclose the specific routes it plans to operate. In June, BoardingPass.ro, an aviation news website from Romania, reported that HiSky Europe had received its Foreign Air Carrier permit, allowing it to connect the European Union and the United States.
«We are extremely proud for keep writing history in aviation and being again pioneers, for the introduction of regular routes of this Airbus A330», stated HiSky’s general director, Iulian Scorpan. «It is a spectacular aircraft, with which the local market is less used to, but which opens several opportunities of travel for passengers.»
«There is not much time left until the first scheduled flight, so we will surely be back soon with all details about the far destinations to which we will fly together with the most recent member of HiSky’s fleet», the executive added.
«We are pleased to continue our support of HiSky Europe with the lease of this first widebody aircraft to the airline», stated David Beker, Air Lease Corporation’s Senior Vice President for Marketing and Head of Aircraft Sales and Trading in a press release published by the lessor. «After two and a half years of steady and successful growth with their all-ALC narrowbody fleet, HiSky came to us ready to launch widebody operations and ALC is delighted to provide high-quality aircraft that will enable the carrier to realize their commercial objectives.»
While HiSky’s largest office is in Chișinău, Moldova, the company has its own air operator certificate (AOC) in Romania, HiSky Europe, which allows it to operate in and out of the European single market. The latter has bases in Bucharest and Cluj.
The two airlines currently operates an all-Airbus fleet of one A319 registered in Moldova, four A320 and two A321LR, all of which are leased from ALC. The third type was planned to be used in the Transatlantic services. In the case of flights from Bucharest to the East Coast of the United States, that would require a fuel stop in an European city further West, Scorpan confirmed to Economica.net in April.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Finance, in 2022 HiSky Europe, the Romanian business unit, registered a net loss of RON23.418 million (about EUR4.73 million as per the exchange rate on December 30, 2022) over total revenues of RON397.8 million (EUR80.355 million).
HiSky its an Moldovan company, not Romanian.