Romavia, also known as Romanian Aviation Company, is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. As a state-owned company controlled by the Romanian Ministry of National Defense, it has offered VIP state and ministerial flights, as well as chartered and scheduled passenger and cargo services out of its base at Henri Coandă International Airport

Henri Coanda International Airport

Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest international airport, located northwest of the city of Bucharest, within Otopeni city limits. One of two airports serving the Romanian capital, the other being Băneasa, it is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of...

.

History

Romavia was established on 3 April 1991 and started operations later in the same year. During the time it operated a scheduled service linking Bucharest Henri Coandă

Henri Coanda International Airport

Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest international airport, located northwest of the city of Bucharest, within Otopeni city limits. One of two airports serving the Romanian capital, the other being Băneasa, it is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of...

 and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion

Ben Gurion International Airport

Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...

 airports. In October 2010, the airline ceased commercial operations.

Fleet

As of August 2011, the Romavia fleet consists of a single BAe 146-200 aircraft.

Over the years, Romavia operated the following aircraft types:

• Antonov An-24
  Antonov An-24
  The Antonov An-24 is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau from 1957.-Design and development:...
  
  
• Antonov An-26
  Antonov An-26
  The Antonov An-26 is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the USSR from 12 March 1968.-Development:...
  
  
• BAe 146-200
• Boeing 707-300
• Rombac 111-560
  BAC One-Eleven
  The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
  
  
• Ilyushin Il-18
  Ilyushin Il-18
  The Ilyushin Il-18 is a large turboprop airliner that became one of the best known Soviet aircraft of its era as well as one of the most popular and durable, having first flown in 1957 and still in use over 50 years later. The Il-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades...
  
  

Incidents and accidents

• On 10 January 1991, a Boeing 707-300 (registered
  Aircraft registration
  An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
  
   YR-ABD) was damaged beyond repair during a crash landing at Bucharest Otopeni Airport
  Henri Coanda International Airport
  Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest international airport, located northwest of the city of Bucharest, within Otopeni city limits. One of two airports serving the Romanian capital, the other being Băneasa, it is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of...
  
  . The aircraft had been on a crew training flight for soon-to-be-launched Romavia, when it hit the runway with its left wing, resulting in a fire. There were no casulties amongst the 13 persons onboard.
• On 13 December 1995, Banat Air Flight 166, an Antonov An-24
  Antonov An-24
  The Antonov An-24 is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau from 1957.-Design and development:...
  
   (registered YR-AMR) chartered from Romavia, crashed shortly after take-off from Verona Airport
  Verona Airport
  Verona Airport , also known as Valerio Catullo Villafranca Airport or simply Verona-Villafranca Airport is an airport located southwest of Verona, Italy...
  
  , killing all 41 passengers and 8 crew members onboard. The accident most probably happened because of the aircraft having been overloaded and improperly de-iced.