Flew with HiSky to Romania directly from New York to visit family last month, great experience and m glad we finally have an airline flying to Romania!
I was just reading up on HiSky as I have to go to Romania next year, I couldn't find any reviews on the JFK service, so a huge thank you. Now on to the video.
Okay, that's a pass for me, but thanks for taking one for the team. BTW, an easy way of dealing with the "Is Turkey in Europe", for that, use the Eurovision as a guide, it means that no, Turkey is not in Europe, but Israel and Australia are.
It just started so you wouldn't find reviews this early. For a direct service it's not a bad price, but you can fly with Lufthansa, LOT, KLM and many more for roughly the same price but with a 1 stop.
Hi Patrick, romanian viewer living in NY here. Love this video! My wife took this flight last week in Y and the flight was barely 1/3 full. She had the 4 middle seats as a "full lie flat" bed. But as you mentioned the load factor is not sustainable long term....I hope they survive because it is a convinient option to fly direct. But my worry is that, with this being their only widebody if it breaks at any point, there is little they can do and will end up in massive disruption to the passengers. Keep up the good work!
Yea there’s definitely some big concerns I have with the sustainability and resiliency of the route. Personally, I feel their best bet is making it summer seasonal and wet leasing another widebody if they really want to make it work
@@PatrickSheaAviation ALSO they could try having less frequencies and replacing them with Canada and Charter flights, charters are usually full on Hisky's A330
Preventing people to fly-in from EU countries like Romania put in balance with how willing current government is to receive people over the southern border puzzles me.
If the pricing is right, Canadians would like to go to Romania via New York. You stay 1-2 nights in NYC at departure and/or return. It sounds good. But maybe HiSky should also consider a Toronto stopover if airports taxes not too high. Both metropolitan areas combined (NY + GTA) have 30 millions people. If the airport taxes are too high, then maybe HiSky should just offer a voucher/discount. There are plenty of flights between Toronto and NYC. Ideally, HiSky should fix their booking website, let people book from multiple North American cities. It should make a deal with an American airline, to bring people for Romania, to JFK. Airport taxes are real killers.
It's not just about visas but about the motivation behind. While some may be curious enough to visit the US, the reality is that America is not exactly an attractive destination for Romanian tourists. If I was to choose between Mexico, the Dominican, and the US, I don't think the US would be the first one to come to my mind.
@@PatrickSheaAviation Funny that a week or so ago (shortly after watching this video) I was on the Long Island Expressway and saw a plane fly over heading to JFK 22L that I couldn’t identify. I checked Flightradar24 and it was this very same aircraft arriving from Bucharest.
As a romanian that loves the US this flight would sure be a lifesaver- if only it would be sustainable. I was actually surprised by how empty your flight was but then the comments reminded me about the visa... the most nightmarish travel related experience. Don't get me wrong, I understand the hesitancy to remove it as the reputations of romanians abroad is... not so good, but as a traveler, boy do I wish we had visa free travel to the US. Thank you for the amazing video, keep up the good work!
Sweet video! I assume their economy will sell alright if pricing is reasonable. Beyond extra legroom I don't see any reasons to upgrade to business on hisky though. The cabin not having been even slightly modernised is such an unfortunate chance, and probably a big sign of their financial hardship. Modernisations cost quite the amount of money, but that increase in comfort is what has passengers paying a premium! Those few business seats should be paying the fair and economy should be a treat on top of that, but if they can't afford a clean (or let stand fully operational) business cabin I fear their future will be tough, financially at least. Once again, great watch!
It’s a bit more money than the one stop options but for some, the nonstop service is worth it all. I wonder how much they can get away with with marketing that though
Now you can fly from Bucharest to NYC, have a late lunch at Sammy's Romanian on the Lower East Side, then fly home in time for breakfast. I don't see this lasting. There doesn't seem to be enough demand for traffic between Romania and NYC to keep the seats filled, especially now that the government can't afford to subsidise TAROM the way it used to during communism. If this route survives it'll be limited to seasonal summer service 2-3x/week.
Nice video. Strange that you commented that the food at the buffet was SO European. You were in Europe. And then just a note on pronunciation. Chisinau is pronouned "Kishinow". Iasi is pronounced "Yash". Good luck.
since launch i haven't seen a better review then yours. Thanks for that. Also as many point out, even tough cheap...we can't get there without the visa, and getting it is a big pain in the bum.
Hisky aero is owned by HiSky which is Moldavian company, if Moldova can launch flights from RMO to JFK then the a330 will be at Chisinau and Romania so they will buy more aircrafts
I enjoyed my time in Bucharest in 2022...would definitely go back. I flew via London on the way out of JFK (using BA) and came back on Lufthansa via Munich (to Newark). I'd be interested in the nonstop but I bet their economy seats are way off the pace of most major carriers with Euro hubs.
Thanks for the great video! I wish you had included a pick in the economy section as well. If the business-class amenities are that poor, I can only imagine what’s left for the economy passengers. I'm used to the non-functional power outlets and outdated equipment on Tarom, the main Romanian carrier-not to mention the issues at the airport. Speaking of which, I've never seen another runway with weeds growing through cracks in the asphalt like at OTP. You can actually see this in your video starting at 11:25. Like Romanians are used to say: "Merge si asa" :)
Felicitari pentru realizarea unei curse directe Bucuresti-New york.Mult mai mult decit cea ce pleiada amorfa de politicieni din Romania este capabila sa faca.De curind am calatorit pe distanta Bucuresti New York.Va rog imbunatatiti calitatea mincari chiar daca va trebui sa mariti pretul biletului pentru ca mincarea este sub orice critica!Respectele mele pentru actiunea de a realiza o cursa directa intre Usa si Romania.
Wow. Bucharest is 30mins more flying time from NYC than Melbourne is from Bangkok. One forgets how much farther east they are and how much more time that adds to the crossing.
@@PatrickSheaAviation I can't see them getting any other new widebodies because it would make sense for fleet commonality and there would be less crew training. Also, HiSky is a budget airline so it's unlikely they will switch to something like the Boeing 787
I don't see that happening anytime soon, Romas (who sneak through Mexico) have been creating havoc lately and gangs are making the news across the country.
@@redademeah yes because romania is the only nation to have roma minority lol. yet nations like slovakia, hungary and czechia are completely fine and don’t have that same problem
I flew from Bucharest to New York on a connecting flight in June. We stopped in Paris, then to JFK. When I returned, we stopped at Amsterdam, then arrived in Bucharest. The problem is that we aren't in the Visa Waiver Program yet. There is a big push for us the enter and I did do my duty as a Romanian to get an US Visa and not be denied (I kinda couldn't get because I didn't go for tourism, I went for a competition). Our current Prime Minister did say that he will attempt as much as possible to lobby for Visa Waiver to the US and other stuff that concern Romanians, like Spanish double citizenship. Hope I'll see these flights full and that I'll fly with them either this winter or next summer.
As a NYer, I never heard anyone demanding a non-stop flight to Romania. I can't see this flight lasting long based on the cost to fly the route and it's load factor.
Actually there is another airline that owns a widebody aircraft in Southeastern Europe named GullivAir and based in Bulgaria, however they are using them on wet lease.
The video really doesn't do Romania any justice in my opinion. I have been there and would love to go back and let me tell you, the pictures I took on my phone alone are better than most of the video. It goes to prove : if one is set up on stereotyping and throwing dirt, one will film in such ways as to deliver that. Awful filming angles and bad choice of places, on purpose in my opinion. Too bad.. Romania and it's people are absolutely amazing and will go back to hopefully many more holidays.
Romania has never been a tourist hotspot (except for Romanians abroad), I don't see the average American family planning their yearly vacation in Romania. The airport and train station in Bucharest speak for themselves no matter how you try to sugarcoat the reality. It's a destination to visit once for single travelers or couples, as a tag-on with another destination (Bulgaria and Turkey come to mind given the geographical proximity and Istanbul's giant hub).
@@redademe That is not true, as even Heathrow would look bad if you shoot the wrong angles and the wrong filters. I know what I am saying, it was done on purpose. And Romania could be a more common place to go to if shown in a positive way. This video definitely doesn't help, does it? Hence your comment
@@HadrianTAZ The video is just a flight review and not a tourism promotion thing but it shows a sad state of the airport/aviation and I fully agree with the author. I've been to Romania countless times for work so I wasn't waiting for this one to tell me what the country's weaknesses are.
@@redademe then if it is, why the generalisation about "Eastern Europe" to be avoided? It is not just a flight video, it is about bashing Eastern Europe, no matter what they do. This is how it comes accros and in all honesty, the video was intended to reflect the biased, stereotypical opinion of the author.
5:34 yeah so TAROM actually has/had a flagship lounge. It is now called "Dacia" and i think you've seen it in the schengen zone. It is the biggest lounge in that airport. Now i don't really know if the rebrand from "Tarom Lounge" to "Dacia Lounge" was just a rebrand or if it was just a change of ownership.
@@PatrickSheaAviation Most probably they separated as TAROM is forced to sell pretty much everything. They just received financial aid from the EU which basically forced them to restructure. This restructure included selling their airplanes and limiting their fleet with maximum 14 aircraft until 2027, selling the Heathrow slots and more.
Tarom was always or pretty much always fully booked. But they claimed to loose money….and the prices were very competitive with other airlines flying with one stop to Bucharest….extra stop…extra expenses.
No, it's not "only Serbia" on the Balkans that has wide-bodies besides this company; GullivAir of Bulgaria had at least three A330 in 2020-2023 with one of them still flying to overseas destinations.
@PatrickSheaAviation I could have written a longer preview, but then I'd just be repeating myself. All your videos I've seen do far have been awesome, as I am sure your future videos will be. So if you see just a thumbs up or small review, don't worry, as they are all 5 star rating.
I don't know how to say this properly, but one thing that really distracted me was the abundant use of the phrase "as a matter of fact". I swear at least 10% of the sentences spoken in the narration started with it lol -- Great video though, super enjoyable aside from this distraction
Air Serbia offers you a much better deal. Just fly a short connection link to Belgrade and from there Air Serbia takes you to New York or Chicago, and probably to Toronto soon.
In my opinion they should have chosen Cleveland or Detroit. I used this flight a couple of weeks ago but I live in Ohio and anything out of Cleveland to JFK is either not direct, or too early in the morning or too late in the evening, so I chose to drive the day before and left the car in a parking lot. There are far many more Romanians in the Ohio-Michigan area that might use this, but if they are going to have a layover anyway, it's irrelevant where it is, if it's in the US or in Europe. Besides, in general, many people I've talked to, would rather avoid JFK if they could. I liked landing in Bucharest early in the morning, because that gave me enough time to get to my destination (4-hour drive). In previous years I always landed after 4pm. They need to at least figure out how to connect the Romanian hot-spots like Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago with their flight; that could help. They have what it takes. I haven't flown TAROM in many years, but, compared to what I remember, HiSky is a lot better.
No hate but the way he pronounced chișinau made me think it was a chinese city. Loved ur bideo it is awsome and its the first review of this flight that i have seen ❤❤
What is your source for the route statistics of avg 70 per day? Is that only from Hisky? I would be curious to know aggregated traffic across 1 stop flights RO to US
Oh, okay I see. But that never happen to me when I fly a old or new plane that has no air vent, I never have nosebleed on the plane. May I ask, what's your age?
Idk if that's totally true... the flight will need more romanian travelers to be profitable. But that will require the US to review their visa requirements for romanians
Forget it you said New York I’m not getting there. I might go to Venezuela different countries in the world but not New York New Jersey no thanks if I have to fly I’ll fly from different parts.
I would definitely use skyhi to travel directly to NYC! The connecting flights are no big deal to do! After all, once you land in US you have to check your luggage and go through the customs irrespective if you both a connection in the same ticket or 2 different tickets from companies that are not partners. I’d rather not pay hundreds of dollars extra just to have the ‘convenience’ of buying one ticket with a stopover im NYC and 2 different opperatoros, hifly and some sore of American one. No thanks, it’s not worth it! Not when USA makes all flights be basically separate by having everyone go through the customs and collecting all their luggages in NYC and going again with everything to check in for the American continental flight. It’s not worth to even do a partnership with an american airline for thus, Americans would rob hisky of all their profits and bankrupt them for the partnership, and again, the Americans would not offer a benefit to any passengers. There’s no real value there. Better to use google flights and by separate tickets one from hifly second from whatever American company is most convenient. And that’s the way to do real business and pay for value. Good review, would definitely use hifly. And don’t worry about the business class not getting preferential treatment upon embarking, just flew with some Icelandic airline and it was absolutely no acknowledgment of business class people whatsoever, nonsense, nil. In anything. The westerners just charge more for basically nonexistent service i guess. No big deal. Hisky does better, much better. And what’s very important, is that at the airport they immediately took your critique into consideration and adapted and did the check in very professional. Which is not how any of the KLM or other similar airline would react, you’d be lucky if they’d pretend to hear your opinion about how they operate in Bucharest. I flew connecting flights from Bucharest to whatever point in Europe then to US for decades, with Tarom the Romanian company, the germans, Dutch, Swiss, Italians, and even in the good old times with the Polish and the Hungarians. Also flew with low cost companies like the Norwegians and the Icelandics, which are basically way subpar to the hisky you presented. Tks for giving your opinion about hisky. What I can definitely say made me appreciate hisky and the Romanian staff at the airport in Bucharest overall, is the fact that when you gave them feedback about marking tje check in land for business and putting signs for the checkin they instantly addressed it, very professional folks, good for them! Tks
Is it just me or did that takeoff seem incredibly sluggish. I've been on quite a few transatlantic flights (mostly on A350s). Also the climb rate seemed shallow af. Must have been at fuel, passenger and cargo maximums cuz she looked like she was STRUGGLIN
I just checked the price list. It's a joke! $1300 at business for the trip to N.Y alone is a big and very bad JOKE! The business section looks worse than the coach section of any Turkish Airlines (my preferred line and not advertising here for them). I fly Bucharest to Seattle twice a year on Turkish (business) and I pay about the same but those have stunning planes and you feel right. Instead of a tired 320 you sit in a Dreamliner or a 350 and those can't be beat.
Flew with HiSky to Romania directly from New York to visit family last month, great experience and m glad we finally have an airline flying to Romania!
I was just reading up on HiSky as I have to go to Romania next year, I couldn't find any reviews on the JFK service, so a huge thank you. Now on to the video.
Okay, that's a pass for me, but thanks for taking one for the team. BTW, an easy way of dealing with the "Is Turkey in Europe", for that, use the Eurovision as a guide, it means that no, Turkey is not in Europe, but Israel and Australia are.
It just started so you wouldn't find reviews this early. For a direct service it's not a bad price, but you can fly with Lufthansa, LOT, KLM and many more for roughly the same price but with a 1 stop.
As a romania I recomended to you if you are in bucharest next year you can visit "casa poporului"
"arcu de triuf"
@@lvthudwhat? turkey has european land. and it has nothing to do with eurovision.
This channel is underrated , Great videos 👍Keep up the great work.
Thanks man! I really appreciate it!
WOW direct flight from Romania!!!
Hi Patrick, romanian viewer living in NY here. Love this video! My wife took this flight last week in Y and the flight was barely 1/3 full. She had the 4 middle seats as a "full lie flat" bed. But as you mentioned the load factor is not sustainable long term....I hope they survive because it is a convinient option to fly direct. But my worry is that, with this being their only widebody if it breaks at any point, there is little they can do and will end up in massive disruption to the passengers. Keep up the good work!
visa waiver is missing you know
They can always lease another widebody from, for example, Wamos Air
Yea there’s definitely some big concerns I have with the sustainability and resiliency of the route. Personally, I feel their best bet is making it summer seasonal and wet leasing another widebody if they really want to make it work
@@PatrickSheaAviation ALSO they could try having less frequencies and replacing them with Canada and Charter flights, charters are usually full on Hisky's A330
It is amazing and strange to witness a flight connecting the US and Romania. A sublime video mate!
Thanks man! It was a fun journey to take!
As long as US will keep Romanians in the visa zone, these planes will fly half-empty until eventual cancelation...
I do wonder if it’ll change now that the US seems to be expanding its visa free countries in europe
Preventing people to fly-in from EU countries like Romania put in balance with how willing current government is to receive people over the southern border puzzles me.
in 6 months
If the pricing is right, Canadians would like to go to Romania via New York.
You stay 1-2 nights in NYC at departure and/or return. It sounds good.
But maybe HiSky should also consider a Toronto stopover if airports taxes not too high. Both metropolitan areas combined (NY + GTA) have 30 millions people.
If the airport taxes are too high, then maybe HiSky should just offer a voucher/discount. There are plenty of flights between Toronto and NYC.
Ideally, HiSky should fix their booking website, let people book from multiple North American cities. It should make a deal with an American airline, to bring people for Romania, to JFK.
Airport taxes are real killers.
It's not just about visas but about the motivation behind. While some may be curious enough to visit the US, the reality is that America is not exactly an attractive destination for Romanian tourists. If I was to choose between Mexico, the Dominican, and the US, I don't think the US would be the first one to come to my mind.
Thanks for the report! Romania is my favorite country to visit nowadays!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Great report on an airline I hadn't heard of.
Thanks! It was definitely fun to try out something unique like thus
I’ve been on hisky to and from chishinau 3 times. And i will say. They are an amazing airline.
Interesting to see this new and unique airline and route. Thanks!
Thanks! Glad you liked it
@@PatrickSheaAviation Funny that a week or so ago (shortly after watching this video) I was on the Long Island Expressway and saw a plane fly over heading to JFK 22L that I couldn’t identify. I checked Flightradar24 and it was this very same aircraft arriving from Bucharest.
Youre channel is awesome. Straight forward and very informative.
Thanks!!!
As a romanian that loves the US this flight would sure be a lifesaver- if only it would be sustainable. I was actually surprised by how empty your flight was but then the comments reminded me about the visa... the most nightmarish travel related experience. Don't get me wrong, I understand the hesitancy to remove it as the reputations of romanians abroad is... not so good, but as a traveler, boy do I wish we had visa free travel to the US. Thank you for the amazing video, keep up the good work!
Bad reputation have romanians just in UK and France because the media
Another week another Patrick Shea video! 😊
the food looks awsome ..
We still need a visa for USA, so this flight will go out business very soon.
nope
You know basically all countries' citizens need visas to enter the US. And I don't think it will go out of business anytime soon
Thanks for the info + video!
Thanks!
Great video. Had no clue this route existed. I hope it gets better, they have alot of work to do.
Thanks! It's a fun route for sure. Hopefully they can find a way to keep it going
Sweet video!
I assume their economy will sell alright if pricing is reasonable. Beyond extra legroom I don't see any reasons to upgrade to business on hisky though. The cabin not having been even slightly modernised is such an unfortunate chance, and probably a big sign of their financial hardship. Modernisations cost quite the amount of money, but that increase in comfort is what has passengers paying a premium! Those few business seats should be paying the fair and economy should be a treat on top of that, but if they can't afford a clean (or let stand fully operational) business cabin I fear their future will be tough, financially at least. Once again, great watch!
It’s a bit more money than the one stop options but for some, the nonstop service is worth it all. I wonder how much they can get away with with marketing that though
Now you can fly from Bucharest to NYC, have a late lunch at Sammy's Romanian on the Lower East Side, then fly home in time for breakfast.
I don't see this lasting. There doesn't seem to be enough demand for traffic between Romania and NYC to keep the seats filled, especially now that the government can't afford to subsidise TAROM the way it used to during communism. If this route survives it'll be limited to seasonal summer service 2-3x/week.
You are right. Delta made an unsuccessful attempt in 2009
When i comed back from turkey i saw the HiSky airbus 330-200 in bucharest
Awesome!
Good job mate 👍
Thanks!
Ohoooo! It has A340-600 engines! Super cool!❤❤❤❤
Nice video. Strange that you commented that the food at the buffet was SO European. You were in Europe. And then just a note on pronunciation. Chisinau is pronouned "Kishinow". Iasi is pronounced "Yash". Good luck.
since launch i haven't seen a better review then yours. Thanks for that. Also as many point out, even tough cheap...we can't get there without the visa, and getting it is a big pain in the bum.
Totally. I wonder if the visa for Romanians will be re-evaluated. This route may struggle with that in place
Hisky aero is owned by HiSky which is Moldavian company, if Moldova can launch flights from RMO to JFK then the a330 will be at Chisinau and Romania so they will buy more aircrafts
I enjoyed my time in Bucharest in 2022...would definitely go back. I flew via London on the way out of JFK (using BA) and came back on Lufthansa via Munich (to Newark). I'd be interested in the nonstop but I bet their economy seats are way off the pace of most major carriers with Euro hubs.
Definitely. Can’t beat nonstop sometimes thoufg
Thank you so much for that report. Very interessting what they are offering in C/CL.
Very informative, thanks!
“As a matter of fact”, I have a feeling, listening to your narration that you are reading an essay titled:”How I spent my summer holidays.”
The food service looks great onboard
Definitely a carb load… some good stuff in there thoufg
The Business Class looks like a number of Premium Economy class services.
Definitely not the best. But there’s no competition on this route 🤷♂️
Dude your channel is awesome✈️
Thanks bro! Love to hear it!
@PatrickSheaAviation hello from Aruba 🇦🇼
Thanks for the great video! I wish you had included a pick in the economy section as well. If the business-class amenities are that poor, I can only imagine what’s left for the economy passengers. I'm used to the non-functional power outlets and outdated equipment on Tarom, the main Romanian carrier-not to mention the issues at the airport. Speaking of which, I've never seen another runway with weeds growing through cracks in the asphalt like at OTP. You can actually see this in your video starting at 11:25. Like Romanians are used to say: "Merge si asa" :)
Felicitari pentru realizarea unei curse directe Bucuresti-New york.Mult mai mult decit cea ce pleiada amorfa de politicieni din Romania este capabila sa faca.De curind am calatorit pe distanta Bucuresti New York.Va rog imbunatatiti calitatea mincari chiar daca va trebui sa mariti pretul biletului pentru ca mincarea este sub orice critica!Respectele mele pentru actiunea de a realiza o cursa directa intre Usa si Romania.
Wow. Bucharest is 30mins more flying time from NYC than Melbourne is from Bangkok. One forgets how much farther east they are and how much more time that adds to the crossing.
Great video. Blunt and to the point
I hope Sky Hi Airlines order the Airbus A330neo-800 aircraft for longer routes to California and Mexico.
IF they get new widebodies, I doubt we see the -800. My guess is some wet leased aircraft
@@PatrickSheaAviation I can't see them getting any other new widebodies because it would make sense for fleet commonality and there would be less crew training. Also, HiSky is a budget airline so it's unlikely they will switch to something like the Boeing 787
Thinking about it, maybe HiSky can order or lease some A321XLRs if possible and push them to the limits.
hope the US soon removes visa requirements for romanian citizens. Also for bulgarian and cypriot ones
Why ??
@@davidspooner6001why not?
I don't see that happening anytime soon, Romas (who sneak through Mexico) have been creating havoc lately and gangs are making the news across the country.
@@redademe As far as I know they plan to remove visa requirements for romanians in 2025
@@redademeah yes because romania is the only nation to have roma minority lol. yet nations like slovakia, hungary and czechia are completely fine and don’t have that same problem
I flew from Bucharest to New York on a connecting flight in June. We stopped in Paris, then to JFK. When I returned, we stopped at Amsterdam, then arrived in Bucharest. The problem is that we aren't in the Visa Waiver Program yet. There is a big push for us the enter and I did do my duty as a Romanian to get an US Visa and not be denied (I kinda couldn't get because I didn't go for tourism, I went for a competition). Our current Prime Minister did say that he will attempt as much as possible to lobby for Visa Waiver to the US and other stuff that concern Romanians, like Spanish double citizenship. Hope I'll see these flights full and that I'll fly with them either this winter or next summer.
this flight's surely a steal
Hey Patrick, I have been thinking about flying aer lingus and I would love to see you review it!
I covered that one last year. If you can find a good deal, it’s definitely an acceptable product
As a NYer, I never heard anyone demanding a non-stop flight to Romania. I can't see this flight lasting long based on the cost to fly the route and it's load factor.
Delta had a similar direct flight in June 2009 and stopped after 3 months of summer because it did not have enough booking rate (about 70%)
no new route will be profitable fast, visa waiver will help
If they make it summer seasonal they have a shot. Plus a visa waiver for Romania
Actually there is another airline that owns a widebody aircraft in Southeastern Europe named GullivAir and based in Bulgaria, however they are using them on wet lease.
The video really doesn't do Romania any justice in my opinion. I have been there and would love to go back and let me tell you, the pictures I took on my phone alone are better than most of the video.
It goes to prove : if one is set up on stereotyping and throwing dirt, one will film in such ways as to deliver that. Awful filming angles and bad choice of places, on purpose in my opinion. Too bad.. Romania and it's people are absolutely amazing and will go back to hopefully many more holidays.
Romania has never been a tourist hotspot (except for Romanians abroad), I don't see the average American family planning their yearly vacation in Romania. The airport and train station in Bucharest speak for themselves no matter how you try to sugarcoat the reality.
It's a destination to visit once for single travelers or couples, as a tag-on with another destination (Bulgaria and Turkey come to mind given the geographical proximity and Istanbul's giant hub).
@@redademe That is not true, as even Heathrow would look bad if you shoot the wrong angles and the wrong filters. I know what I am saying, it was done on purpose. And Romania could be a more common place to go to if shown in a positive way. This video definitely doesn't help, does it? Hence your comment
@@HadrianTAZ The video is just a flight review and not a tourism promotion thing but it shows a sad state of the airport/aviation and I fully agree with the author. I've been to Romania countless times for work so I wasn't waiting for this one to tell me what the country's weaknesses are.
@@redademe then if it is, why the generalisation about "Eastern Europe" to be avoided? It is not just a flight video, it is about bashing Eastern Europe, no matter what they do. This is how it comes accros and in all honesty, the video was intended to reflect the biased, stereotypical opinion of the author.
@@redademe then you are a really sad individual mate. Wake up
5:34 yeah so TAROM actually has/had a flagship lounge. It is now called "Dacia" and i think you've seen it in the schengen zone. It is the biggest lounge in that airport. Now i don't really know if the rebrand from "Tarom Lounge" to "Dacia Lounge" was just a rebrand or if it was just a change of ownership.
That makes sense. I did see it on my way to the international gates. I wonder why they separated from the airline?
@@PatrickSheaAviation Most probably they separated as TAROM is forced to sell pretty much everything. They just received financial aid from the EU which basically forced them to restructure. This restructure included selling their airplanes and limiting their fleet with maximum 14 aircraft until 2027, selling the Heathrow slots and more.
Not judging dramatically or anything but that “cake” isn’t cake lol, it’s just a Teramisu lol but I love the video!!
That's not true, delta airlines flew from jfk to Romania from 2007 to 2009.
Did you watch the video? He mentions the delta flight. 20:32
Amazing video!
Thanks!
The seats were indeed red when the plane arrived for the first time at Bucharest Otopeni
Romanian gang here
Thanks for the detailed report! Wow the meals... the first probably is the worst Business Class meal I've seen on a long haul flight
It was definitely an… interesting… meal
According to the waybackmachine looking at ohare’s Wikipedia, they also had direct flights to Romania for a short while in the mid 2000s.
before arriving in Bucharest it starts from RMO or Chisinau -> Bucharesti -> NYC
Interesting. I hadn’t realized that
Great review
5:38 “Hi Fly”
Tarom was always or pretty much always fully booked.
But they claimed to loose money….and the prices were very competitive with other airlines flying with one stop to Bucharest….extra stop…extra expenses.
Interesting... I always heard that they struggled to fill more than 75% of the plane on their flights
No, it's not "only Serbia" on the Balkans that has wide-bodies besides this company; GullivAir of Bulgaria had at least three A330 in 2020-2023 with one of them still flying to overseas destinations.
Nice video!
Great Video And Info
Thanks!
10:10 Chisinau correct pronunciation sounds like Kishinau not Shisinau😅
nice one Patrick
Thanks!
@PatrickSheaAviation I could have written a longer preview, but then I'd just be repeating myself. All your videos I've seen do far have been awesome, as I am sure your future videos will be. So if you see just a thumbs up or small review, don't worry, as they are all 5 star rating.
I don't know how to say this properly, but one thing that really distracted me was the abundant use of the phrase "as a matter of fact". I swear at least 10% of the sentences spoken in the narration started with it lol -- Great video though, super enjoyable aside from this distraction
Air Serbia offers you a much better deal. Just fly a short connection link to Belgrade and from there Air Serbia takes you to New York or Chicago, and probably to Toronto soon.
Air Serbia is definitely on my wish list. Super interesting routes to North America
In my opinion they should have chosen Cleveland or Detroit. I used this flight a couple of weeks ago but I live in Ohio and anything out of Cleveland to JFK is either not direct, or too early in the morning or too late in the evening, so I chose to drive the day before and left the car in a parking lot. There are far many more Romanians in the Ohio-Michigan area that might use this, but if they are going to have a layover anyway, it's irrelevant where it is, if it's in the US or in Europe. Besides, in general, many people I've talked to, would rather avoid JFK if they could. I liked landing in Bucharest early in the morning, because that gave me enough time to get to my destination (4-hour drive). In previous years I always landed after 4pm. They need to at least figure out how to connect the Romanian hot-spots like Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago with their flight; that could help. They have what it takes. I haven't flown TAROM in many years, but, compared to what I remember, HiSky is a lot better.
No hate but the way he pronounced chișinau made me think it was a chinese city. Loved ur bideo it is awsome and its the first review of this flight that i have seen ❤❤
You think they will stop this route soon? I see the seat map and always its over half empty on the way back to Bucharest
What is your source for the route statistics of avg 70 per day? Is that only from Hisky? I would be curious to know aggregated traffic across 1 stop flights RO to US
2:54 we did not join the Schengen area, you can maybe say so but only for air and water travel which is stupid.
thnx to austrian right wing vote in eu!
yo they added th neo mask to the a33O
You don't have to leave the EU, to leave the Schengen area.
HiSky, the airline that gives you lots of carbs in flight.
Ha! Definitely feels like it
I had no idea an A330 could fly no problem for 10+ hours.
They are definitely capable of great flights. They just never became as popular as some others that came out in that time
those seats are taken from Troleybuses from USSR?
Can you please do Royal Air Maroc from New York to Casablanca sometime later ? thanks
I’ve done that route in economy and loved it. Hoping to get RAM again in business class soon
@@PatrickSheaAviation okay thanks 🤝🏻
Is that your 1st time that you have nosebleed on the plane? It's not usual to get nosebleed on the plane. I never had a nosebleed on the plane before.
Dang. I get them sometimes in these dry cabins
Oh, okay I see. But that never happen to me when I fly a old or new plane that has no air vent, I never have nosebleed on the plane. May I ask, what's your age?
Arizona has the most Romania 🇷🇴 communities...u need to update man
Arizona does have a good amount of Romanians, but doesn’t even crack the top 10 US states by Romanian population
If u could can u try Kuwait airways A330-800 ? ❤
bro Im Romanian I fly them all the time it is so comfy
Especially if you get a full row to yourself. Even in economy you can have a nice bed to sleep on!
Did you consider Air Serbia which operates from ORD and JFK to BEG
I’ve looked into flying that one for a long long time
Hopefully is still flying in February we are planing to take that fly
Awesome! I have my doubts. I feel that they’ll make it a summer-seasonal route but there’s no official plans yet
Ohoooo! HiSky With extempore touchscreens from old Lufthansa 747-8 economy class touch screens!?! Seriously?😂😍❤️👍🏿
As long as the american soldiers are on Romanian territory, this flight will also exist, even if it flies half empty.
Idk if that's totally true... the flight will need more romanian travelers to be profitable. But that will require the US to review their visa requirements for romanians
Wow
Problem with this is this.. is that if something goes wrong with plane.. theres no backup planes.. soo you stuck
Yuh. Would make for an interesting trip for sure with no partners or anything either
Well i dont know if you know but this airplane is luxury if you compare to all others that fly in Europe 😅😂
Idk about that... I've tried quite a few European carriers on their US routes and most are far better then this one
Im from romania
Just out of the curiosity, what was the price ,one way, in business class?
Thank you.
That's revealed in the description. $1200
@sushi777300 thank you.
i am interested in montreal to bucharest
Sounds like Canada will be getting their first service soon… although it may be Toronto instead of MTL
Forget it you said New York I’m not getting there. I might go to Venezuela different countries in the world but not New York New Jersey no thanks if I have to fly I’ll fly from different parts.
ok
$1,200 is too much for a budget-like airline
For business class it ain’t bad. Just needs some work done. We will see what happens as they age
Is that economy or premium flight?
This is their business class
@@PatrickSheaAviation they don’t have a business class only premium economy and classic economy
@@Animalsourbestfriends-k8j that’s just not true…
………who taught you to pronounce Podgorica like that?
I would definitely use skyhi to travel directly to NYC! The connecting flights are no big deal to do! After all, once you land in US you have to check your luggage and go through the customs irrespective if you both a connection in the same ticket or 2 different tickets from companies that are not partners. I’d rather not pay hundreds of dollars extra just to have the ‘convenience’ of buying one ticket with a stopover im NYC and 2 different opperatoros, hifly and some sore of American one. No thanks, it’s not worth it! Not when USA makes all flights be basically separate by having everyone go through the customs and collecting all their luggages in NYC and going again with everything to check in for the American continental flight. It’s not worth to even do a partnership with an american airline for thus, Americans would rob hisky of all their profits and bankrupt them for the partnership, and again, the Americans would not offer a benefit to any passengers. There’s no real value there.
Better to use google flights and by separate tickets one from hifly second from whatever American company is most convenient. And that’s the way to do real business and pay for value. Good review, would definitely use hifly.
And don’t worry about the business class not getting preferential treatment upon embarking, just flew with some Icelandic airline and it was absolutely no acknowledgment of business class people whatsoever, nonsense, nil. In anything. The westerners just charge more for basically nonexistent service i guess. No big deal. Hisky does better, much better. And what’s very important, is that at the airport they immediately took your critique into consideration and adapted and did the check in very professional. Which is not how any of the KLM or other similar airline would react, you’d be lucky if they’d pretend to hear your opinion about how they operate in Bucharest. I flew connecting flights from Bucharest to whatever point in Europe then to US for decades, with Tarom the Romanian company, the germans, Dutch, Swiss, Italians, and even in the good old times with the Polish and the Hungarians. Also flew with low cost companies like the Norwegians and the Icelandics, which are basically way subpar to the hisky you presented. Tks for giving your opinion about hisky. What I can definitely say made me appreciate hisky and the Romanian staff at the airport in Bucharest overall, is the fact that when you gave them feedback about marking tje check in land for business and putting signs for the checkin they instantly addressed it, very professional folks, good for them! Tks
Is it just me or did that takeoff seem incredibly sluggish. I've been on quite a few transatlantic flights (mostly on A350s). Also the climb rate seemed shallow af. Must have been at fuel, passenger and cargo maximums cuz she looked like she was STRUGGLIN
what business class is this, looks like wizz air with bussiness class :))
Its NOT Terom. Its TAROM!
2:35 5:34 9:50 I heard Tarom.
Wdym? Tarom is good but is not the single good
@@Bobo-589 what on earth are u talking about?
Are you Romanian?
Nah. But a fun visit for sure
I just checked the price list. It's a joke! $1300 at business for the trip to N.Y alone is a big and very bad JOKE! The business section looks worse than the coach section of any Turkish Airlines (my preferred line and not advertising here for them). I fly Bucharest to Seattle twice a year on Turkish (business) and I pay about the same but those have stunning planes and you feel right. Instead of a tired 320 you sit in a Dreamliner or a 350 and those can't be beat.