Romanian carrier Blue Air (0B/BLA) has hit out at the Romanian government after having its accounts frozen leaving it unable to operate flights.
The Romanian Ministry for the Environment seized the accounts of the airliner and the National Authority for Consumer Protection [ANPC] warned passengers not to buy tickets leaving Blue Air unable to cover its costs.
As a result, all flights out of Romania were cancelled today with only inbound flights from outside the country operating to bring the aircraft back. All fights will also be cancelled between now and the 12th of September.
In a statement, Blue Air said: “Due to an unforeseen situation consisting in the seizure of all the accounts of the company Blue Air Aviation S.A. by the Ministry of the Environment, Blue Air is unable to pay the current costs, necessary for the operation of daily flights, which is why it is forced to suspend all flights scheduled to depart from Romanian Airports, until Monday, 12th September 2022.”
The airline was recently hit by a €2 million fine by the ANPC for selling promotional fares on flights which ended up being cancelled, a deliberate move according to Romanian Authorities. It still has to repay customers over €10 million in refunds.
Blue Air has bases in Bucharest. Bacau, Cluj and Turin
Irish budget airline Ryanair (FR/RYR) has been to launch “rescue” fares on competing routes with fares starting at £49.99.
Ryanair’s Dara Brady said: “Ryanair is once again saving the day with rescue fares from just £49.99 to accommodate customers affected by Blue Air’s sudden ‘suspension’ of operations. While Blue Air are ‘suspending’ flights across Europe, Ryanair continues to operate a full schedule with over 3,000 daily flights delivering industry-leading low fares, choice, reliability and customer service.
The routes are:
| Cluj – London |
| Bucharest – Brussels |
| Bucharest – Dublin |
| Bucharest – London |
| Bucharest – Madrid |
| Bucharest – Naples |
| Bucharest – Palma |
| Bucharest – Pisa |
| Bucharest – Rome |
| Bucharest – Treviso |
| Turin – Naples |
| Turin – Catania |
| Turin – Lamezia |