Dan Air, the only company that operates regular flights from the new Brasov – Gimbav airport, will continue to operate flights from this airport, the schedule will be adapted to the conditions currently offered by the local infrastructure, the company’s board decided on Tuesday. It will be recalled that the airline company Dan Air announced that it is considering the possibility of suspending flights after a series of incidents also related to the airport’s limited schedule.

• “Given the situation that has developed so far due to the problems that have arisen, namely the lack of equipment for removing birds from the airfield, the lack of repair organizations, as well as the refusal of controllers to extend the work schedule, in situations of operational need, similar to those that arose in the previous weeks, Dan Air has taken the following decision: the safety of our passengers is a priority, we assume the additional losses and difficulties that have arisen, and we inform you that we will continue to adapt our flight schedule to the conditions currently offered by Brasov Airport.
• We note that, following our inquiries, Brasov Airport sent us a message during the day, according to which the problem with the logistics of removing the birds from the Gimbav Airport area has been resolved. Regarding the lack of maintenance organizations, we indicated that we are still waiting for a response,” the company’s press release quoted Agerpres as saying.

Earlier, the general director of the company, Matt Ian David, stated at a press conference that the possibility of the air operator suspending operations at the Brasov airport and moving to the Otopeni airport is being considered. In this situation, passengers would be transported from Bucharest to Brasov by bus free of charge.

What problems does the only airline operating from Brasov airport face?

He noted that the air operator faces the following problems:

• “The lack of a maintenance organization that could have intervened in time after the incident on Friday, when several birds entered the engine of a plane flying to London, putting the lives of passengers at risk.
• The lack of an anti-bird system (Gimbav airport does not have such a system, which is cheap and can be installed in a few days, which could have prevented the incident on Friday – ed.).
• Eliminating the hostility of ROMATSA air traffic controllers (who on Saturday preferred to leave the plane coming from Madrid in flight, although there was a storm over Brasov, putting the lives of passengers at risk – ed.)”.

Another problem is the airport’s opening hours, which are only 12 hours, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., respectively.

• “ROMATSA openly accuses us of knowing from the beginning the schedule of Brasov airport, that it is from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., that this is what Brasov airport requested.
• I communicated with all the involved institutions, absolutely all those related to the commissioning of the Brasov airport. Everyone can extend the schedule up to 24 hours. The only one who cannot continue the program is ROMATSA. why Controllers are missing. There are only five of them. (…)
• The schedule of Brasov airport is a consequence of the impossibility given by ROMATSA to control the airport, by no means what the airport would have wanted, and that is what it wanted, 12 hours, because if you open an airport that only works 12 hours a day, it’s not profitable,” David also said.

He claimed that the solution would be uncontrolled boarding after 19:00, assuring that passengers were 100% safe as “visual separation rules are in place”.

According to him, in April, when Dan Air signed the contract with Brasov Airport, there was no information about the program it would have.

Car transportation of passengers on flights exceeding the 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. schedule

Regarding the extension of the flight schedule, in a press release sent on Tuesday, Dan Air notes that it has sent two addresses, both to Brasov Airport and to ROMATSA, requesting the extension of the flight schedule, so that those originally sent by all involved parties, were respected.

• “We are showing that until this moment we have not received an answer. Also, even in the case of an unfavorable but justified response, we are ready to find solutions aimed at solving the problems of passengers, as we also noted at today’s press conference at the company’s head office for the purpose of providing transport services. to which we committed,” the document says.

Dan Air emphasizes that it will continue to operate flights from Brasov Airport as follows: flights that will operate from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. will not be affected, and flights that will take place outside this schedule will be operated with the help of ground transportation provided by the company free.

• “In this way, we guarantee that passengers will reach their destination. In conclusion, we make it clear that these measures are temporary, confident that the institutions involved will ensure our support for Dan Air’s operations in accordance with the established and initially agreed schedule,” the company said in a statement.

What ROMATSA says

For their part, ROMATSA representatives explained during an informal meeting with journalists that it is necessary to obtain a license for air traffic controllers in the airspace of Brasov, currently there are only five trained people who cannot have a work schedule of more than 12 hours. Currently, four adjusters are still undergoing training, but they will be able to enter the program in at least three months.

• “However, with these four additional controllers, we will only be able to provide flexibility to the airport’s schedule, and in no case an extension to 24 hours. That is, the airport will still have a 12-hour schedule, but at a different time slot,” said representatives of ROMATSA, quoted by Agerpres.

They noted that expanding the program to 24 hours would require 12 adjusters. ROMATSA is recruiting for 58 positions, five of which are for Brasov Airport.

In addition, in order to expand the airport program, it is necessary to go through certain legal stages, one of which is obtaining a new airfield certificate, which last at least 3-4 months. If we add staff training, then only in one and a half to two years it will be possible to talk about expanding the program to 24 hours.

In addition, representatives of ROMATSA noted that the schedule of Brasov airport was already known last year.

• “In February 2022 in Poiana Brasov, at a meeting with the Airports Association, it was very clearly discussed what the schedule of the airport in Brasov will be.
• Later, at the beginning of March 2023, after several discussions, ROMATSA signed a service agreement with Brasov-Gimbav International Airport, in which the work schedule is very clearly defined. On April 24, 2023, the airport signs a service agreement with Dan Air, and on May 5, the airport’s schedule is published in AIP. On May 17, Dan Air sent a schedule not following the airport’s schedule,” it said.

Dan Air started flights on June 15 to Germany, Spain, Belgium and Great Britain. On June 19, the company announced new destinations: Madrid, Rome, Valencia and Malaga.

• PHOTO New Brasov airport has a rough start – Few flights, limited schedule, jokes and many disappointments