TAROM

Is TAROM safe?

Yes, but its record is weaker than at most EU flag carriers. TAROM has had no fatal accident in 31 years, it is overseen by Romania's Civil Aviation Authority under EU rules, and it passed the IATA safety audit (IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary). We score it 80, below Air Serbia and LOT Polish Airlines.

The points it loses come from a small, ageing fleet and from serious incidents in which Romanian investigators found crew errors. Nobody was hurt in any of them. The airline's money troubles are a separate issue: a state-aid restructuring changes how many routes it flies, not the rules its pilots and engineers must follow.

TAROM's accident history

TAROM's worst years were the Soviet-type era. Between 1960 and 1991 it lost aircraft in more than a dozen fatal crashes, mostly Li-2s, Il-14s and An-24s in Romania's mountains. All are well outside our 20-year window.

The last fatal one was on 31 March 1995. Flight RO371, an Airbus A310 to Brussels, climbed out of Bucharest Otopeni after de-icing when the left engine's thrust began to fall and the right engine stayed at climb power. The aircraft rolled left, turned over and dived into a field; all 60 people on board died. Romanian investigators named the thrust asymmetry, a possible incapacitation of the captain, and too little correction by the first officer.

Since then TAROM has written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary three jets without deaths. Two BAC One-Elevens were lost in landing accidents at Istanbul in 1995 and Stockholm in 1997. On 30 December 2007 a Boeing 737-300 taking off from Bucharest in thick fog hit a car belonging to a runway lighting crew at about 90 knots and veered off the runway. Nobody on board was hurt, but the aircraft was written off. Investigators blamed the tower for clearing the take-off while the maintenance workers were still on the runway. In July 2024 a parked ATR 72-600 was damaged by a violent storm at Oradea, with nobody on board.

Serious incidents: the crew-handling cases

These cases set the incidents score:

• Chisinau, June 2017. An ATR 42 ran off the side of the runway after landing in Moldova and stopped with all its wheels on soft ground. The final report found the crew had operated the controls and pedals badly after touchdown, skipped the descent check and did not brake.
• Bucharest, October 2016. An ATR 42 lined up on the right edge of the runway instead of the centre and hit edge lights before the captain rejected the take-off.
• Bucharest, July 2019. An ATR 42's main tyres burst under braking after landing.
• Hungary and Germany, 2017 and 2018. Two TAROM 737s lost radio contact with controllers long enough for fighter jets to be sent to intercept them.

In 2024 a 737-800 lost an engine after flying through birds while climbing out of Paris and returned safely. In 2021 the first officer of a 737-800 fell ill on approach to Bucharest, and the captain took over and landed.

The fleet and the restructuring

TAROM is in the middle of a rescue. The European Commission approved €95.3 million of restructuring aid on 29 April 2024 on condition that the airline cut its network and fleet and proves it is viable by 31 December 2026. The airline has split off its maintenance company, TAROM Tehnic, and capped itself at 27 routes and 14 aircraft. Its chief executive said in May 2026 that the loss of four important routes, fuel prices and a year's delay in new aircraft hurt the plan. In October 2026 the new government said it would seek a strategic investor in 2027.

The fleet shows the strain. In August 2026 TAROM flew two older ATR 72-500s (one stored), four ATR 72-600s, three 737-700s (two inactive) and four leased 737-800s (ch-aviation). Its first 737-8 MAX arrived in September 2026 and a second followed; TAROM sold four old aircraft to make room. Until more arrive, gaps are filled with wet-leased A320s, one of them close to 20 years old.

Flying TAROM: what to know

• Check the operator on summer flights. Wet-leased A320s from Avion Express and Hello Jets fly under those airlines' certificates and crews.
• Watch for schedule cuts. Under the restructuring TAROM can drop routes at short notice, and in August 2026 Wizz Air offered to take over its domestic routes, which TAROM rejected as unrealistic. Book with a card or a package that protects you if a route is cancelled.
• Winter at regional airports. Snow and fog at airports such as Iasi, Suceava and Cluj cause more diversions than at Bucharest.

How we scored it

Oversight (90) is at the EU level, and the accident record (88) is solid with no fatal crash since 1995; its one hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary in the window, in 2007, was caused by the tower's clearance, not the crew. The fleet (63) and incidents (65) cost the most: older aircraft only now being replaced, and serious incidents that investigators traced to crew handling.