ROMANIAN NATIONAL CARRIER · SKYTEAM MEMBER
Romanian flag carrier · Bucharest Otopeni hub · SkyTeam belly network
TAROM (full name Compania Națională de Transporturi Aeriene Române) was founded in 1954 and is headquartered at Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP), its main hub, as the Romanian state flag carrier. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited prepared the material for Chinese shippers, covering belly-hold air freight that connects through the Bucharest hub to Romania and the South-East European market.
Image: the Balkan peninsula, wing imagery and traditional Romanian geometric borders
TAROM is the Romanian state flag carrier, under the Ministry of Transport, headquartered in Bucharest and based at Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP, also known as Otopeni). Since its founding in 1954 it has carried traffic between Romania and Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, has been a member of IATA since 1993 and joined SkyTeam on 25 June 2010. Passenger flights are the core business; freight rides in the belly hold of passenger aircraft and the airline operates no dedicated freighter.
For Chinese shippers the value of TAROM lies in the position of its Bucharest hub. Bucharest sits at the centre of South-East Europe and from there reaches the whole of Romania, the Balkan countries and the inland markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Cargo exported from China to Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova or southern Hungary can leave a Chinese gateway, transit a Western European or Middle Eastern hub, connect to a TAROM passenger flight into OTP and then move by truck to destinations across South-East Europe. The airline's website is tarom.ro.
The company is in the middle of a fleet and operating restructure. Under the published reorganisation the fleet is being cut from twenty-nine aircraft of seven types in 2021 to about fourteen aircraft of four types, with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to be introduced in batches to improve operating efficiency. Routes and schedules change with the season during the restructure, and actual capacity and timings are subject to the carrier's confirmation on the day of booking.
Romania has become one of China's important trading partners in Central and Eastern Europe, and demand persists for electromechanical products, auto parts, textiles and garments, consumer goods and communications equipment moving in and out of South-East Europe by air. Bucharest OTP is the country's gateway airport and handles the great majority of its international air cargo and mail. Chinese shippers have tended to serve South-East Europe by truck from Western European hubs. The point of the TAROM belly network is that cargo arriving at a Western European hub can connect straight to a narrowbody belly flight into OTP and then distribute through Romanian networks, which shortens the final leg against an all-truck haul and suits time-sensitive, high-value small lots and returned e-commerce goods in particular.
TAROM does not market freight under a separate cargo brand. Freight is embedded in passenger operations and capacity is sold by a joint passenger and cargo team. A Chinese shipper booking is therefore dealing with a multi-leg movement: the China departure leg on widebody belly or freighter, the European connecting leg on a TAROM narrowbody belly, and the final leg filled in by a road trucking network. That structure means all three legs must be locked in one booking, since tight capacity on any one of them can break the connection.
Image: the Bucharest OTP hub fanning out across Europe and the Middle East, with Chinese cargo connecting through hubs such as Paris and Frankfurt into OTP (schematic, not an actual routing)
The TAROM fleet consists of ATR turboprop regional aircraft and Boeing 737 narrowbody jets, and all freight capacity comes from passenger belly holds. Narrowbody belly holds take loose cargo and LD3 units and suit small to medium lots of general cargo, express and e-commerce shipments with tight transit requirements. The table lists the main types in service and their hold characteristics as compiled from public sources; actual aircraft types and numbers are subject to the carrier's confirmation on the day of booking.
| Aircraft type | Freight hold characteristics |
|---|---|
| Boeing 737-700 / 737-800 | The narrowbody mainline workhorse, flying Bucharest to Western and Central Europe and the Middle East, with belly space for loose cargo and AKE/AKN containers; the main type linking OTP with connecting hubs such as Paris, Frankfurt and Vienna. |
| Boeing 737 MAX, being introduced in batches | Under the published plan TAROM will introduce four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in batches, with deliveries phased through 2027, replacing older narrowbodies and improving sector efficiency. |
| ATR 72-500 / ATR 72-600 | Turboprop regional type flying domestic Romanian and short South-East European routes, with belly space mainly for loose cargo, suited to distribution from OTP to domestic points such as Iași, Craiova and Timișoara. |
| Airbus A320-200, wet lease | Wet-leased narrowbody capacity added during the fleet restructure for mainline flying at peak periods, with belly capacity comparable to a standard A320. |
Note that TAROM operated the Airbus A318 between 2006 and 2024 and retired the type entirely in November 2024. The airline operates no widebody freighters such as the Boeing 747 or 777 and has no freighter fleet of its own.
In operating terms, the size limits of a narrowbody belly hold need checking before booking. The cargo door on the Boeing 737 family is small and long or wide pieces cannot be loaded, so actual dimensions must be declared in the booking instruction. ATR turboprops have even less belly space and suit only small replenishment runs from OTP to domestic points. A Chinese shipper with out-of-gauge cargo should raise it at the start of booking so that Goodhope can assess moving it on a European freighter mainline to a hub near OTP and distributing by truck, rather than forcing it into a narrowbody hold.
TAROM operates no scheduled passenger or freighter service in China and publishes no direct China to Bucharest route. Cargo exported from China to Romania and South-East Europe must start at a major Chinese international gateway, fly on widebody belly or freighter services of a Chinese or third-country carrier to a Western European, Central European or Middle Eastern hub, and then connect to a TAROM flight for distribution to OTP and inland South-East Europe.
| Step | Notes |
|---|---|
| China origin ports | Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), Beijing Capital and Daxing International Airports (PEK/PKX), Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX) and Chengdu Shuangliu and Tianfu (CTU/TFU) can all be used. |
| Transit hub | Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Frankfurt (FRA), Amsterdam (AMS) and Istanbul (IST) are common connecting points. The Abu Dhabi (AUH) direction also works through TAROM's interline arrangement with Etihad Airways. |
| Distribution destinations | Bucharest OTP is the arrival hub, with onward trucking or regional belly capacity to Romanian and Balkan inland cities. |
| Schedule basis | TAROM schedules change with the season and the carrier's confirmation on the day of booking governs. The China departure leg and the connecting leg keep their own schedules, so connection times must be locked together at booking. Times are local. |
No public source shows a fixed TAROM freighter slot in China. [Note: no public information is available on this point; the carrier's confirmation on the day of booking governs.]
Chinese exporters can choose the departure gateway by factory location and available capacity. Shenzhen and Guangzhou suit manufacturing cargo from South China, Shanghai and Hangzhou suit electronics and auto parts from the Yangtze River Delta, and Beijing and Zhengzhou suit cargo consolidated in North and Central China. Widebody belly availability from each gateway to European hubs varies with the season, so peak periods need early locking. Goodhope can recommend the best gateway and connection combination for the shipper's region and transit requirement.
From China, the freight directions reachable through the TAROM Bucharest hub are mainly China to Romania (Bucharest OTP and domestic points such as Cluj), China to Bulgaria (Sofia, via OTP or interline), China to Serbia (Belgrade), China to Moldova (Chișinău), and China to inland South-East European markets in southern Hungary, Croatia and North Macedonia.
On longer connections, TAROM as a SkyTeam member can interline its belly network with the global capacity of SkyTeam cargo partners. Chinese shippers can also feed cargo into the TAROM network through a Western European hub, producing a multi-leg movement from a Chinese factory to a South-East European consignee. Public information for 2026 shows a codeshare arrangement between TAROM and Etihad Airways, extending the network through Abu Dhabi to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia and Australia, and giving cargo from China to the Middle East and on to South-East Europe a new connecting path.
In terms of China's export mix, three cargo groups dominate this direction. The first is electronics and communications products and their parts, which are time-sensitive and high in value per shipment and suit belly capacity. The second is auto and machinery parts, where Romanian and neighbouring automotive clusters need steady replenishment. The third is seasonal replenishment of textiles, garments and consumer goods, where peak-season demand for capacity swings widely. In the import direction, South-East European pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediates and specialty electromechanical products can move back over the same network, from OTP through a European hub to a Chinese gateway.
OTP is one of the leading hubs in South-East Europe by throughput and TAROM builds its network around it, so Chinese cargo reaches Romania and the Balkan interior with a single connection, cutting the transit loss that comes with repeated handling.
As a SkyTeam member, TAROM can interline its belly capacity with the capacity networks of alliance cargo partners, so the waybill for the China departure leg connects with the OTP arrival leg and the documents and capacity confirmation for a multi-leg movement are simplified.
For second-tier South-East European cities that European freighter networks cannot serve direct, the Boeing 737 and ATR belly holds provide distribution beyond OTP and fill the inland gaps left by freighter routes.
As the Romanian state flag carrier, TAROM has a stable local base in route access, ground handling and customs cooperation, which suits general trade cargo that needs both transit time and reachability.
Trade between China and the Central and Eastern European countries has stayed active in recent years, and Romania, as a road and air node linking Eastern Europe with the Balkans, gives Chinese exporters market reach. Shipping over the TAROM network, Chinese cargo can clear customs and inspection inside Europe and enter the Romanian market quickly by air, then move down the chain into the Balkan interior, complementing the combination of ocean container plus European trucking on transit time.
A narrowbody belly hold carries only so much on one sector, but frequencies are dense and connections flexible. For shipments of a few dozen to a few hundred kilograms that must reach second-tier South-East European cities within days, TAROM belly capacity plus a European hub connection is more predictable than an all-truck haul and cheaper than a charter, which makes it a useful supplement for routine trade replenishment and emergency spares.
Chinese shippers using the TAROM belly network do not book with the carrier directly; they lock capacity and connections through an IATA-accredited forwarder. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited acts as the origin agent in China and handles the whole operation, from factory pickup and gateway customs declaration through capacity requests and multi-leg bookings to distribution in South-East Europe.
| Step | Handling points |
|---|---|
| Booking instruction | The shipper submits a booking instruction stating the departure gateway, destination city, pieces, weight and dimensions, cargo nature and required flight week, and Goodhope applies to the carrier at the connecting hub and locks the OTP leg. |
| Documentation preparation | The documents required are a commercial invoice, packing list, house air waybill and customs declaration authorisation. Special cargo also needs the relevant test report, CITES certificate or health certificate. |
| Documentation cut-off and terminal delivery | Documents are confirmed by the departure cut-off, the cargo is delivered to the gateway bonded terminal on time and is weighed, measured and then built up. |
| Transit connections | After arrival at the European or Middle Eastern hub, the local agent completes transit formalities and the transfer, and the cargo connects to the TAROM belly flight into OTP. |
| Arrival and distribution | Cargo is cleared on arrival at OTP and then trucked or flown on regional belly capacity to the final South-East European destination. |
Routine trade cargo needs a booking instruction stating consignor and consignee details, pieces, weight and dimensions, commodity and HS code; a commercial invoice and packing list; customs and inspection authorisation letters; and, for branded goods, trademark authorisation or licence documents. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited has operating teams at Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai and can handle inland transport from factory pickup to terminal delivery and check documents before cut-off. Routine cargo normally takes one to two working days from instruction to confirmed capacity; peak periods and tight capacity need three to five days.
The key to a multi-leg movement is the timing of the connections. After the China departure flight lands at the European hub, enough connecting time must be left to complete the transfer and transit formalities before the TAROM flight to OTP. Goodhope checks the flight combination against minimum connecting times at booking, so that a delay on the first leg does not cause a missed flight and offloaded cargo.
TAROM belly capacity carries mainly general cargo, express and e-commerce shipments, and handles special cargo such as temperature-controlled goods, live animals and valuables under the general rules for passenger belly holds. The acceptable range is subject to the carrier's confirmation on the day of booking. Narrowbody holds do not have the oversize or overweight capability of a widebody freighter, so out-of-gauge cargo must have its pieces, weight and dimensions declared before booking for the forwarder to assess a freighter mainline instead.
Typical cargo shipped from China to South-East Europe over the TAROM network includes consumer electronics accessories, textiles and garments, auto parts, pharmaceutical intermediates and general manufactured goods. Volumes are moderate and time-sensitive, which matches narrowbody belly capacity. Dangerous goods must be declared under the IATA DGR and are limited to the classes the carrier publishes as acceptable.
On temperature-controlled cargo, narrowbody holds have no power feed for active temperature-controlled containers, so ambient-controlled shipments need passive insulated packaging and the temperature range must be declared at booking. Live animals need acceptance conditions and quarantine documents approved by the carrier, and the range TAROM can accept is limited, so Goodhope should confirm with the carrier before booking. Valuables must be declared under high-value cargo rules with supervised handover throughout and are better suited to a widebody mainline than to a narrowbody regional leg.
TAROM publishes no cargo office of its own in China; contact its local agent in China or ask Goodhope to make the connection. The airline's website is tarom.ro. Chinese shippers can place a booking instruction through Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited, which deals with the airline's authorised sales network and the European hub ground agent to obtain capacity and arrange multi-leg movements.
Goodhope handles the whole operation for Chinese shippers, from booking instruction and capacity reservation through gateway customs declaration and multi-leg booking to distribution in South-East Europe. The shipper confirms commodity, pieces, weight and dimensions, departure gateway, destination city and required schedule in a written instruction; on receipt Goodhope works out the connecting routing and available capacity and returns an estimated rate and transit time. Instructions for special and dangerous goods must come with the relevant test and licence documents.
Disclaimer
Prepared by Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited (Goodhope Freight). Airline names, codes and brand marks mentioned here belong to their respective owners, and our company has no affiliation, agency or investment relationship with the airlines described. The information is compiled from public sources for reference only and does not form a contract of carriage or a commitment. Space, rates and schedules are subject to actual confirmation by the carrier or its authorized agent at the time of booking.
Contact: Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited; website: https://goodhope86.com.
Goodhope and the airline names, trademarks and codes mentioned here belong to their respective owners; The material serves only to describe cargo services.