Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air doesn't have enough capacity in terms of aircraft to fill the gap left by Blue Air, "but we'll see what we can do next year," CEO József Váradi told Economica.net, speaking about the unexpected opportunity created by the collapse of the Romanian private airline.

"Bucharest is becoming the largest operational base for Wizz Air in the entire network, Cluj is a very strong operational base as well, and Iasi is catching up. We are interested in becoming the de facto national carrier of Romania," Váradi stated.

Troubled private Romanian airline Blue Air, which stopped flying on September 6, recently announced an imminent agreement with an investor, yet still pending "the agreement of the Romanian state" - a specification that puts a big question mark on the whole deal, though.

"It's a miracle how they were able to fly so many years after so many problems, with changing companies. But there's an end to everything, and I think we are there," Váradi concluded.

He added that in case flag carrier Tarom faces problems similar to those seen at Blue Air, WizzAir will be there to take advantage of the situation. "I cannot assess the situation at Tarom, I cannot assess the Government's intentions. We don't plan for Tarom to collapse, but if something happens, we will react," said Váradi.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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