The Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (ROMATSA) will lay off 200 employees by the end of this year, cutting the total to 1,600 – Director General Bogdan Donciu stated at a meeting on aviation safety management, Mediafax informs. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Radu Berceanu who attended the event recommended the ROMATSA management to cut total expenses this year. According to Donciu, last year ROMATSA registered revenues of approximately EUR 140 M. It also forecasts a fall of commercial air traffic by 6-8 per cent in 2009, Agerpres reports. A 6 per cent drop was recorded in the first three months of 2009, the ROMATSA Director General also said. Romania registered the highest growth of the number of air passengers in the European Union – 41 per cent, according to Eurostat. It is followed by Latvia (27 per cent) and Lithuania (22 per cent). According to Eurostat, Henri Coanda Airport recorded 41 per cent growth of the number of passengers up to 6.9 M passengers, of which 5.32 M in the EU, i.e. 544,000 passengers on domestic flights and 1.04 M passengers on extra-community flights.
