History

Air company "Air Moldova" was founded in January 12, 1993, by the decree of the President of the Republic of Moldova.

The company’s base consisted of flight subdivisions based in Chisinau. Thus it can be affirmed that the company started its activity in September 19, 1944, when the first aircraft PO-2 arrived in Chisinau and the first Moldovan independent flight squadron started to function. Besides those 15 aircraft PO-2 type that operated domestic flights and served in agriculture, during the first years after the war, there were 2 aircraft LI-2 type, which operated flights to Moscow, to cities from Ukraine and health resorts situated on the seaside of the Black Sea and in Caucasus.

A considerable impetus was done in 1960. At the beginning of ‘60s has started operation of a new airport in Chisinau that had the capacity to serve gas turbine aircraft. In 1965, the enterprise received the status of Department of Civil Aviation and the fleet was completed with new aircraft An-10, An-12 and An-24 type. During the same period of time, started operation of flights to many cities of the USSR and commenced transportation of fruits and vegetables grown in Moldova to the largest industrial centers of the country.

At the beginning of ‘70s the long distance flights were operated by jet airplanes. In 1971 the aircraft TU-134 became the main aircraft of the company. The company’s fleet counted about 26 aircraft of this type. In Chisinau was located the experimental base for this type of aircraft. In 1972 the fleet was completed with regional aircrafts Yak-40 and in 1974 with cargo aircraft An-26. The route map continued to extend and the sales volume, too.

Further development was connected to operation of TU-154 aircraft. At the mid ‘80s, the Department has received 10 aircraft of this type. At that time the Moldovan crews were flying in 73 cities of the USSR and annually over 1.000.000 of passengers were being transported by air. In 1990 was opened the first international flight Chisinau - Frankfurt.

At the beginning of ‘90s has started the restructuring of the Moldovan air industry. As a result of reorganization, there were created some enterprises one of them was the air company Air Moldova which comprised the flight and service divisions. The beginning of ‘90s proved to be a tough endeavor for Moldovan civil aviation. The reorganization of the industry started at the time of difficult political situation, recession in living standards of the population and disruption of existing economic relations. At the same time appeared great difficulties concerned with fuel supply. Considerable decrease of the demand in air services led to decrease of the economic indicators in air transport, similar to the level of ‘50s. As a matter of fact, only two air routes between Moldova and Tel Aviv survived at that time. Nevertheless the company managed to survive.

At the turn of a new millennium the situation took a turn for the better. New air routes to European countries were opened. For the first time in the last ten years there were purchased new aircraft. In 2001 the company has taken on lease modern aircraft - Embraer 120 and Embraer 145 type. In 2003 the company has changed its image through creating a new logo and changing the external design, by repainting the aircraft. In cooperation with the state enterprise Chisinau International Airport there were created a number of related companies - Sky Alliance (ticket sales agency), Aeroport-Catering (passenger catering services), Aeroport-Handling (passenger and cargo check-in, their delivery on board of the aircraft and daily maintenance of the aircrafts), Aeroport-Petrol (aircraft fuelling). There were launched new flights to Amsterdam, Vienna and Lisbon. From August 4, 2004, Air Moldova started regular flights to Madrid. An important event for the air company Air Moldova was completion of the fleet with two modern aircraft Airbus-320. Purchase of these aircraft in September 2003 and February 2004 led to a considerable increase of the number of passengers and volume of cargo transported.

On July 13, 2004 Air Moldova became an active member of the International Association of Air Transport (IATA). The adhering conditions to IATA presume certain standards and requirements among which are to be mentioned: modernization of the fleet, assurance of flight security, personnel competence and development of a quality system. Starting with December 15, 2004, the air company is being implementing the recompensing program of the passengers who fly frequently with the air company – Air Moldova Club.

On May, 10, 2010, for the first time the air company fleet was completed with a new Embraer 190Jet, arrived directly from the Embraer plant. The Air Moldova’s Embraer 190Jet is configured for 114 seats. Purchase of the aircraft is part of the development strategy of the company and operation of a new aircraft in our fleet shall give the possibility to open new air routes and to assure passengers comfortableness and safety.