Having secured its US Foreign Air Carrier Permit (FACP) and exemption authority, HiSky Europe (H4, Iasi) hopes to launch flights to the United States by the end of the current summer season.
The US Department of Transportation has permitted the Romanian airline to operate scheduled and charter, passenger and cargo operations between any point in the US and any point in the European Common Aviation Area.
"If everything goes as we expect, by the end of summer we will already open the first routes to the US. Earning the trust of passengers is not an easy thing to do for a newly established airline. However, I believe that in the last two years, we have done things the right way, so that by today we managed to have a significant market share on the routes we operate. In this context, we are sure that obtaining the permit for transatlantic flights is an important step in strengthening our legitimacy in the regional market," Chief Executive Iulian Scorpan said.
The airline plans to deploy its two A321-200NX(LR)s to the US although flights from Romania will only be possible with one stop. HiSky Europe did not disclose whether it had already selected an airport for refuelling. As long as the point is in the ECAA region - covering the whole of Europe, including Türkiye, except for the United Kingdom, Belarus, and Russia - HiSky Europe would automatically receive fifth-freedom rights for all sectors.
Scorpan told ch-aviation that plans for US operations should be finalised in the next 3-4 weeks.
The airline's A321neo(LR)s currently operate mainly European routes out of Bucharest Henri Coanda, with the longest flights being to Tenerife Sur and Funchal. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that HiSky Europe also operates four A320-200s, while its sister carrier HiSky operates a single A319-100.
Romania has not had direct services to the US since 2003, when TAROM (RO, Bucharest Henri Coanda) suspended its transatlantic operations in favour of connectivity through the Air France-KLM partner network.
