"EU integration has certainly increased the levels of air traffic in Romania," said Corina Enciu, commercial manager with BA for Romania and Moldova. She estimated the number of passengers has increased on the Bucharest-UK route, as a result of the elimination of foreign visas for Romanian citizens traveling to fellow EU countries.

Consecutively, the company posted an occupancy rate of 86 percent in February, up 11 percent against the same month in 2006.

The number of passengers on the Bucharest-Zurich route operated by SWISS airline rose by 10 percent in the first two months of this year compared with the same corresponding period last year.

Low-cost operators boasted the highest growth rates, generally a growth of more than 50 percent, expecting to double or even triple their passenger numbers every year. As a result of positive figures, a rising number of airlines are interested in the domestic low-cost market owing to its growth potential.

Even though low-cost air travel was expected to develop at the expense of road transportation, this trend has not been highly visible until now.

Source: Xinhua