TAROM: The Restructuring, the New Boeing 737 MAX and the Future of Romania's Flag Carrier

History and positioning

Operating since 1954, TAROM remains mostly state-controlled and in recent years has gone through an EU-approved restructuring plan, whose sustainability will have to be demonstrated by the end of 2026: a phase in which the airline must balance cost containment with fleet renewal.

The fleet

The fleet remains compact, about ten aircraft, split between Boeing 737 Next Generation (737-700/-800) for international routes and ATR 72-600 for shorter regional and domestic links. The first of up to four leased Boeing 737 MAX aircraft has arrived in Bucharest and entered service on the Bucharest-Amsterdam route.

Routes and network

TAROM serves more than 50 destinations in total, many of them reached through codeshare agreements with partner airlines rather than with its own aircraft, a typical reflection of a small carrier that relies on partnerships to offer an effective network wider than its own fleet could cover alone.

What passengers say

In the middle of its restructuring, passenger feedback focuses more on punctuality and the age of the Next Generation aircraft still in the fleet than on the quality of the service itself, with the arrival of the MAX seen by frequent travelers as the first tangible sign of fleet renewal.

TAROM works for those who need to reach Bucharest directly from one of the European points the airline serves, or for Romanian domestic flights on the ATR fleet. It is a riskier choice for anyone who needs guaranteed connections beyond TAROM's own small network, because many itineraries sold as TAROM beyond Europe are actually operated by a codeshare partner. When a long itinerary shows TAROM only on the first segment, look carefully at the operated-by line, because the next leg is most likely flown by another airline with different baggage rules.