The Romanian regional airline Air Connect will in future operate under the brand name Aeroitalia Regional. The stickers on an ATR72-600 have now been changed so that the new design is already visible.

The rebranding not only affects the visual appearance, but also the official company name is changed. Some time ago Aeroitalia bought the Romanian regional airline. Air Connect had previously flown almost exclusively on behalf of the Italian provider, as the scheduled flights on its own account were not a great success.

Since the Romanian regional carrier flies almost exclusively for Aeroitalia, the company name would actually be irrelevant. The Romanian aviation portal Boardingpass.ro suspects that the reason behind this is that the name Air Connect now enjoys a dubious reputation. This concerns claims from passengers that date back to the time when the company offered its own scheduled flights.

Air Connect doesn't have the best image

Among other things, it is reported that enormously high reimbursement and compensation claims have arisen due to many cancellations and delays. There should also be accounts receivable from airports and a fuel supplier. Numerous cases are said to be pending in court due to alleged non-payment. In order to shake off its badly tarnished image, Air Connect is now officially called Aeroitalia Regional. Contrary to what the name would suggest, it remains a Romanian aviation company.

The fleet of what is now Aeroitalia Regional currently consists of two ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft. These are stationed in Italy and serve numerous routes on behalf of the now parent company. This pattern was also briefly used on the Ancona-Vienna route, which was discontinued after just a few round trips.

Numerous start-ups in Romania

In recent years, a number of new providers have launched in Romania. Air Connect is one of these, as the provider has not been on the market for very long. With Bees Airlines, a branch of the Ukrainian Bees Airline was set up. Mister Air was only recently granted the AOC and the operating license. Another example of a new provider is Flylili. Dan Air already existed under a different name, but it only entered the scheduled business last year. Previously, the then Just Us Air was active in the ACMI and charter business. Back on the market is Aerro Direkt.

The carriers mentioned are just an exemplary selection, as there are numerous other start-ups in Romania that are either already certified or are in the approval process. The fact that the Romanian government - in contrast to some other EU states - is more aviation-friendly may play a role in the choice of the founding country.