This promotion will last until December 15th, and was imposed by Transport minister, Radu Berceanu, who thinks Tarom needs a new marketing strategy if it wants to survive in a harsh competitive European market. "It's absurd to pay 300 Euros for a Bucharest to London flight and no less than 350 Euros for a Bucharest to Cluj flight.", explained Berceanu.
According to Tarom sourced estimates, these promotional prices will bring 50% more passengers on internal routes. If the experiment is successful, cheap prices are meant to last in 2007 too. The price slash made flights almost as cheap as train trips. A flight is even cheaper than a train trip in the single coach class, but CFR Calatori (the Romanian state-owned rail passenger company) representatives say they won't record losses.
"To go somewhere by plane, one has to wake up at 4 a.m. and spend two hours in a crowded airport in order to check in and take care of the luggage," says Adrian Vlaicu, marketing director at CFR Calatori.
