Low cost carrier Blue Air ranked 4th in the world for oldest planes used to transport travelers and it has the oldest air-fleet in Romania. Also, in Europe, Blue Air ranked second for low-cost carriers with outdated planes.
In the world ranking, Blue Air placed behind Dana Air (Nigeria, an average age of 21.9 years for its planes), Jet 2 (UK, 21.7 yrs) and Viva Aerobus (Mexic, 21.5 yrs), according to CH Aviation.
Blue Air issued a press release in November 2013, announcing the acquisition of two new planes, but it failed to mention whether they were old or new.
“Next year, our fleet will grow with two new airplanes, bringing the total to 8 planes. For the first time in the company’s history, two planes will be entirely owned, while the other six will function through operational leasing”, according to the release.
Flight safety is a hot debate currently in Romania media, after a plane carrying a medical team of 7 crashed on Monday evening. Two people lost their lives, succumbing to their injuries, after the rescue teams required 5 and a half hours to locate the survivors. The plane in question, a BN2, had an approximate age of over 30 years.
Economica.net ranked the airlines in Romania, according the average age of their airfleets, using data supplied by Planespotters.net.
Blue Air
Fleet: 8 airplanes
Average age: 22,1 years
Oldest plane: 24,7 years
Newest plane: 16,7 years
Carpatair
Fleet: 4 airplanes
Average age: 19.7 years
Oldest plane: 22,7 years
Newest plane: 17,5 years
Air Serbia
Fleet: 10 airplanes
Average age: 15,1 years
Oldest plane: 23,7 years
Newest plane: 6, years
Austrian Airlines
Fleet: 73 airplanes
Average age: 14,8 years
Oldest plane: 22,4 years
Newest plane: 3,6 years
Air Moldova
Fleet: 4 airplanes
Average age: 13,3 years
Oldest plane: 17,4 years
Newest plane: 6,3 years
Tarom
Fleet: 24 airplanes
Average age: 13,3 years
Oldest plane: 21,9 years
Newest plane: 4,8 years
At the opposite end of the spectrum, here are the carriers with the newest fleets. Among them we find Wizz Air, the biggest low cost carrier in Romania, with a total fleet of 41 airplanes operating from 19 bases.
“We operate one of the youngest fleet in Europe. Or 45 state of the art Airbus A320 served over 13.5 mil passengers in 2013 across 95 countries, connecting over 95 destinations with more than 300 routes.” – Daniel de Carvalho, Corporate Communications Manager, Wizz Air.
Wizz Air
Fleet: 41 airplanes
Average age: 4.5 years
Oldest plane: 11.2 years
Newest plane: 0,7 years
Pegasus Airlines
Fleet: 48 airplanes
Average age: 4.1 years
Oldest plane: 13.8 years
Newest plane: 0,1 years
Fly Dubai
Fleet: 35 airplanes
Average age: 2.4 years
Oldest plane: 4.6 years
Newest plane: 0,1 years