Update July 5, 2023: CEO DAN Air announced in a press release that the air operator had 60 flights from/to Brașov and transported approximately 3000 passengers. The average would be 50 passengers/flight, well below the level of profitability, so still almost empty. DAN Air has ONE 174-seat plane allocated to flights from Romania, a fact recognized even by DAN Air officials.
Initial news: Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport presented the first official figures regarding air passenger traffic, 16 days after its inauguration. According to the presented statistics, 3163 passengers passed through Brașov airport. At the same time, during all this time, 43 take-offs and 43 landings were recorded.
A quick calculation shows that the average number of passengers per flight would be 38. If we exclude private flights and charter flights esp Antalya and Crete, which we assume would be full, the average on DAN Air flights would be even lower.
3163 passengers on 86 aircraft movements
"Is much? Is it little? We assure you that it is a good start and we present to you in the photo the statistics for the month of May 2023 regarding passenger traffic on external flights at the level of all airports in the country, carried out by the Association of Romanian Airports.
Currently, from Braşov you can travel with DAN AIR to destinations in Germany - Nuremberg, Munich and Stuttgart, Belgium - Brussels, England - London, Spain - Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid and Malaga, and to these are added, starting from July 3 , Italy – Rome.” – informs Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport.
For the airport in Brașov, the figures are promising, but for DAN Air it is a disaster. A flight operated with 180-seat aircraft cannot be profitable at such a low load factor. And, if we look at it as a whole, the merging of the flights was premeditated by DAN Air. He knew that the planes could not be full, so he took into account connecting the flights from Brașov and Bucharest, but also connecting flights in Europe such as Nuremberg - Stuttgart or Madrid - Malaga, etc.
And Aviația Magazin sounds the alarm
Scandal is not found in the equation of success!
In this context, wasn't the scandal made by DAN Air premeditated to cover up this disastrous situation? Did they seek to blame other entities for their empty planes and the merging of flights, which was happening anyway? Including the threat of departure started from this lack of passengers? Realistically speaking, DAN Air would be happy to get rid of flights from Brașov and stay on Bucharest, where the LF is a bit more promising.
Basically, this is the reality. A new airport cannot guarantee full planes, especially when dozens of routes and flights are announced. At the same time, it is difficult for the airport to attract new air operators without a historical minimum. Perhaps it would be the case that DAN Air, Romatsa and Brașov Airport join forces and work together for a successful future.
The airport schedule is as good as it gets for a debut, that's not the problem. Most likely, as the officials from Brasov announced, they will move the 12 hours depending on the flights. Probably some days the schedule will start at 10 and end at 22. Other days it will be 7-19 or 8-20, depends on days and flights.
How careful are you of DAN Air, that it gives a "penny" per route operated and not per passenger or checked baggage weight! Of of of !
Liviu, we are careful with all these aspects and they have been communicated :). But still don't rush to buy tickets 🙂