Romanian carrier Tarom has put 14 aircraft up for sale, including all of its Airbus A318s, Boeing 737-300s and 737-700s.
In a notice on its website, Tarom says it plans to sell four A318s, four 737-300s and four 737-700s, as well as two ATR 42-500s. The airline is seeking offers for the aircraft, which are being sold in an "as-is, where-is technical condition".
Data shows that Tarom has four A318s in service. It has one 737-300 in service and three in storage, as well as three 737-700s in service plus one in storage. The airline owns a total of seven ATR 42-500 turboprops, all of which are listed as being in storage. Its fleet also includes four in-service Boeing 737-800s and four ATR 72-600s, as well as two ATR 72-500s which are listed as being in storage. Tarom has another five ATR 72-600s on order along with five Boeing 737 Max 8's. Tarom says the aircraft it is selling are available for inspection at its maintenance facility in Romania. The airline was cleared by the European Commission last year to receive nearly €37 million ($44 million) in rescue aid.

Boeing reported 76 total orders for new aircraft during the first quarter despite cancellations, surpassing Airbus in quarterly sales of commercial jets for the first time since 2019 as airlines plan their fleets amid the tenuous recovery of travel demand. Orders for Airbus fell to negative 61 aircraft during the first quarter following cancellations by Norwegian in February. Airbus took orders for 28 narrowbodies during March, including 20 A220-300s, four A320neos and four A321neos. It took no orders for aircraft during January. Boeing during March logged cancellations for 156 737 Max aircraft, which were offset by orders for 196 new 737 type aircraft. Cancellations during March include Turkish Airlines removing 50 orders for Max jets. New orders during March included 100 Max 7 jets ordered by Southwest Airlines. The European airframer still has a larger backlog of orders compared with its US-based rival and maintained its lead in deliveries of aircraft to operators. Airbus delivered 125 aircraft from January through March, while Boeing delivered 77 jets during the first quarter. New aircraft sales slumped during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and carriers cancelled numerous orders, but Airbus has fared better than Boeing during this crisis, in part because of the grounding of Max aircraft in March 2019. The order backlog for Airbus at the end of January was 7,163 aircraft, while Boeing ended January with a backlog of 4,016 orders. Airlines in the USA have reported increased bookings for summer months amid momentum of vaccination. The US Federal Aviation Administration removed its grounding of Max aircraft in November and in the months since then other nations have set standards to modify the aircraft, allowing it to fly again. Airbus will report its first-quarter earnings on 29 April. Boeing will report its quarterly earnings on 28 April.

Passenger numbers at London Heathrow were down 83% year on year in March, the UK airport has disclosed. The figure came in at just 542,000 as the pandemic and the national lockdown continued to restrict travel. In the first three months of the year, Heathrow saw just 1.68 million passengers, a drop of 89% from the first quarter of 2020. The UK is set to start easing travel restrictions from 17 May, but testing requirements have dismayed the travel industry, with airlines arguing that the proposals represented a further setback for the sector. Cargo movements in March increased 21% compared with last year, although volumes were down 26%, Heathrow says in its monthly traffic report. IATA said earlier this month that global air cargo demand had grown in February while capacity remained limited as airlines continued to cut back on passenger flights and the resulting belly capacity. "This makes cargo yields a bright spot in an otherwise bleak industry situation," IATA director general Willie Walsh stated on 7 April.