ROUTES EUROPE: Medallion Air to Open Constanta Base

Romanian charter and ACMI lease specialist Medallion Air is to enter the scheduled market with a planned base at Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport in Constanta, the country’s oldest city. Located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast, it is the largest metropolitan area in the country outside of the capital Bucharest, but air links are currently limited.

The airport, a former Romanian Air Force base, is currently used by the United States military as a stageing post for its activities into the Middle East. The only passenger flights are a weekly link by airberlin to Nuremburg, a twice weekly connection by Ryanair to Pisa and a four times weekly domestic service by Carpatair to Timasora. Seasonal links are also provided by Luxair to Luxembourg, Niki to Vienna and Yamal Airlines to Moscow, while XL Airways France has ad hoc charter flights from Paris.

This will all change from June 15 when Medallion begins direct flights to a mix of seven domestic and international destinations. These comprise Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca (seasonal to September 15 only), Istanbul, London, Madrid and Rome, with Barcelona following from July 21. The majority of these flights will be operated twice weekly, although Barcelona, London and Rome will see just one rotation per week.

Medallion expects to attract a mix of passengers on its flights. Constanta is a developing business market with a large number of new companies establishing a presence in the region since 2008, while it is also home to the largest port on the Black Sea coast. It is also a rising tourist destination with a growing number of resorts being formed along its coastal beach, an area close to mineral springs; another attraction for leisure visitors.