TAROM, Romania’s national airline, is retiring its Airbus A318 aircraft, leaving Air France as the only airline in the world still operating this model. However, Air France is also gradually phasing out its A318s, replacing them with the more modern Airbus A220.
TAROM’s fleet included four Airbus A318s, each with a total seating capacity of 120. However, due to the first few rows being designated as business class, the actual passenger capacity is 113 seats.
The airline is currently undergoing a fleet transformation, shifting its narrow-body aircraft focus entirely to Boeing models. The majority of its future fleet will consist of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, alongside the existing Boeing 737-800s. TAROM also operates Boeing 737-700s, but these are set to be retired as the new MAX aircraft are delivered.
In addition to its narrow-body planes, TAROM’s regional fleet relies heavily on ATR turboprops (72-500 and 72-600), which play a key role in serving domestic and short-haul routes.
The last Airbus A318 in TAROM’s fleet, registered as YR-ASA, is scheduled to make its final flight on October 26, 2024, according to aeroroutes.com. The aircraft’s farewell flight, RO266, will depart from Istanbul at 23:15, arriving in Bucharest at 00:30 the following day.
During its final days of service, the A318 will operate on just two routes: Bucharest–Istanbul, with 12 weekly flights, and Bucharest–London, with daily service.
