We have been discussing about the troubles and the development perspectives in this field with Dorin Ivascu, President of the Romanian Association of the Private Operators in Aviation (AROPA in Romanian).
RBT: You represent the interests of those in charge with the general aviation sector. Which are the main hindering factors in the sector’s development?
Dorin Ivascu: There are three important areas: that of the air operators, of services suppliers and of the most unfavorable sectors, the general and utilitarian aviation. With a view to the aerodromes’ issue, there are 17 in the entire country, out of which only one is operational, while the others do not have authorizations for the general aviation. At the moment, most of the general aviation operators have to land on the airports, which disturbs airline traffic. Those aircrafts are low-speed ones, and the airport taxes are very high. The foreign operators are always complaining about the fact that they have to pay more to land in Romania, than in other countries. For example, in landing in Croatia is much cheaper and there is a heavily traveled area, notably on weekends, when the aircraft owners or those who let them out go there on vacation.
