Carpatair (V3, Timisoara) has filed for insolvency on January 23 but plans to continue operations under the supervision of a court appointed administrator according to a press release issued in Romanian. Carpatair's fleet currently consists of one B737-300 and two Fokker 100s with its sister carrier Moldavian Airlines (Chisinau International) operating another Fokker 100. Since January 19, Carpatair is however just operating a single route linking Chisinau International and Venice Marco Polo. It plans to resume a weekly Chisinau-London Luton link from February 16 with all other routes suspended until at least the end of March. According to Romania's Business Review, Carpatair mainly blamed the need for insolvency proceedings on Timisoara airport and other authorities against which it has already taken legal action with anti-competitive investigations also taking place by the European Commission. Carpatair's economic success has been heavily impacted by the opening of a base of Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) at its homebase Timisoara. Carpatair and Timisoara airport have been in court for a long time already over alleged subsidies and discounts provided to Wizz Air that Carpatair considers illegal.
Carpatair files for insolvency, continues operations
Carpatair Fokker 100,
© Tis Meyer (PlanePics.org)