TAROM

When a white swallow on dark blue appears on the tail, the plane comes from Romania. TAROM is one of Europe’s oldest airlines – and one of the most exciting if you are interested in aviation history. In the Cold War it flew Soviet Ilyushins alongside American Boeings and British One-Elevens, and for a time even jets of its own production. Today the fleet is small and manageable. This page shows you how to recognize TAROM, what is behind the name and which types you can still catch today.

TAROM at a glance

TAROM is Romania’s state-owned airline. The name is an abbreviation of “Transporturile Aeriene Române,” roughly “Romanian Air Transport.” The airline is based in Otopeni, right at the capital’s airport, and runs its network from Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport. In recent years TAROM has also put more focus on Cluj-Napoca and offered direct flights from Sibiu.

Since June 2010, TAROM has been a member of SkyTeam. That puts the airline in the same alliance as Air France and KLM. For you as a spotter that means: TAROM flights also appear under partner flight numbers, and at SkyTeam hubs the Romanians regularly stand next to their alliance partners.

In the Romanian market TAROM is no longer alone. Wizz Air, a big low-cost carrier, has several bases in Romania, and there are Romanian airlines such as HiSky and AnimaWings. The former low-cost airline Blue Air ceased operations in 2022.

Codes, callsign and registration

• IATA code RO: appears in the flight number, on departure boards and in booking systems.
• ICAO code ROT: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on ADS-B trackers.
• Callsign TAROM: how the crew identifies itself on the radio – here the airline name and callsign are identical.
• Registration YR-: Romanian aircraft carry the prefix YR, followed by three letters.

Handy for assignment: the IATA code RO happens to match Romania’s country abbreviation. Unlike with some other airlines, the flight number here intuitively leads you to the right country. How registrations are generally structured and what the prefixes mean is explained in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

History: from CFRNA to TAROM

TAROM’s roots go back to 1920. That was when the French-Romanian company CFRNA came into being, registered in Paris in April 1920. In the following years the company name changed several times: in 1928 it was called SNNA, from 1930 LARES, which merged with its competitor SARTA in 1937.

After World War II, LARES was replaced in 1945 by TARS – a joint venture of Romania and the Soviet Union. Later the Romanian government bought out the Soviet share, and on September 18, 1954, the airline received the name it still carries today: TAROM. The flying swallow has been the airline’s trademark for decades.

Between East and West: the fleet in the Cold War

The decades after 1954 are the part of TAROM’s history that fascinates spotters and historians the most. As the airline of an Eastern Bloc state, TAROM at first flew mainly Soviet types: the Antonov An-24 and Ilyushin Il-18 turboprops, later the Tupolev Tu-154 trijet. At the end of the 1970s, TAROM had the largest fleet in the entire Eastern Bloc after Aeroflot.

At the same time Romania went its own way in aviation and bought Western aircraft early – unusual for an airline behind the Iron Curtain.

BAC One-Eleven and Rombac 1-11

In 1968 TAROM bought six Series 400 BAC One-Elevens from Britain, used on routes in Europe and to the Middle East. The short twinjet with tail-mounted engines and a T-tail was a modern short-haul aircraft at the time.

An industrial project grew out of it: in 1978 Romania signed an agreement enabling license production of the One-Eleven. At Romaero in Bucharest the Rombac 1-11 came into being. A large series was planned, but only nine aircraft were completed. The Rombac aircraft flew with TAROM for only a few years, from 1983 to 1990. For collectors of old photos and logbooks, the Rombac is a real rarity today.

Il-62 and Boeing 707 on long-haul

In 1973 Romania put its first long-haul jet into service, the Ilyushin Il-62. TAROM owned five in total: three Il-62s and two of the later Il-62M. Typical of the Il-62 are the four engines in pairs at the rear and the high T-tail – a silhouette you now find almost only on historic photos. The last TAROM Il-62 was sold in 1999.

From 1974 the Il-62 shared long-haul with the Boeing 707, including versions of the 707-320 family. Eastern and Western jets flew together on the same long routes: to New York, via Abu Dhabi to Bangkok and Singapore, and via Karachi to Beijing. On May 14, 1974, TAROM opened its scheduled service to New York. You can read more about the Boeing 707 and its role in aviation in the article on the history of the Boeing 707.

The 1990s and 2000s: Airbus, restructuring, SkyTeam

After the end of communism, TAROM modernized long-haul. In the 1990s the Airbus A310 replaced the Il-62 and the Boeing 707; TAROM bought its first A310s in 1992. By 1993, long-haul routes to Montreal and Bangkok had been added. A severe blow was March 31, 1995: a TAROM A310 crashed shortly after takeoff in Bucharest, and all 60 people on board died.

At the start of the 2000s the economic situation was the priority. TAROM started a program to become profitable again and cut the loss-making long-haul routes: Bangkok and Montreal in 2001, Beijing and New York in 2003. Since then the airline has concentrated on Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2006 a fleet renewal began with four Airbus A318s, three Boeing 737-800s and two ATR 72-500s. With the A318, TAROM also introduced today’s color scheme. On June 25, 2010, TAROM was admitted to SkyTeam as its 13th member, after an accession agreement had already been signed in 2008. How the three big alliances differ is shown in the overview Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam.

The fleet today: Boeing 737 and ATR 72

Today TAROM is a small airline: depending on the source, the fleet comprises only about ten to 14 aircraft. The fleet is in the middle of a renewal, so individual numbers keep changing. As a rough framework, as of fall 2026:

Type	Role	Spotter note
Boeing 737 MAX 8	New standard on medium-haul	First aircraft in service since September 2026, more to follow
Boeing 737-800	Backbone of short and medium-haul	In service since the renewal from 2006
Boeing 737-700	Shorter Next Generation 737	Being replaced by the MAX 8 – photograph it now
ATR 72-600	Domestic and short international routes	First aircraft since February 2020, leased
ATR 72-500	Older turboprops	Gradually being replaced by the 72-600

The 737 is built by Boeing; the turboprops come from the French-Italian manufacturer ATR. TAROM had already signed a first contract for the 737 MAX 8 in 2018. However, the airline only took delivery of the first aircraft – leased – in September 2026, later than originally expected; it is also the first 737 MAX in Romania. TAROM leases the ATR 72-600 from Nordic Aviation Capital; the first examples arrived in February 2020.

No longer in active scheduled service, on the other hand, are the A310, which flew until 2016, and the A318, whose last examples were retired by 2024. If you don’t have a TAROM A318 in your archive yet, you will probably only find it on older photos. How to keep track of such fleet changes is explained in the article Completing fleets.

737 MAX 8 or 737-800? How to tell them apart

Because TAROM is currently switching from the 737 Next Generation to the MAX, a close look is worthwhile. Paint scheme and size are almost identical – the details reveal the generation.

You recognize the 737-700, on the other hand, by its shorter fuselage: it looks stubbier ahead of and behind the wing, and the proportions between fuselage and tail are noticeably different. For the turboprops, a look at the cockpit and the propellers helps: the ATR 72-600 has a modernized glass cockpit and, like the 72-500, six-blade propellers – so from the outside the difference is small. Here the registration in combination with a fleet database helps most, for example via Planespotters.net.

How to recognize TAROM

The current paint scheme dates from 2006: white fuselage, dark blue “TAROM” titles and a dark blue tail with a large swallow. The design is understated but easy to spot on the apron – especially because of the dark tail.

Older photos show other faces of the airline. In the 1970s TAROM wore a red logo on the tail and a red cheatline on the fuselage. In 2009 a Boeing 737-700 also received a retro paint scheme for the 55th anniversary of the name TAROM, recalling the airline’s early years. You can find more on such throwbacks in the overview of retro liveries, and how alliances design their special paint schemes is shown in the article on alliance liveries.

Spotting TAROM

Naturally, you see the most TAROM at Bucharest Henri Coandă (OTP). Most of the fleet takes off and lands there, and you can catch an ATR and a 737 side by side in one day. Outside Romania, TAROM mainly serves European capitals and business centers, plus destinations in the Middle East and North Africa. The route network changes, so the rule is: before every trip, check your airport’s current schedule for RO flight numbers.

Because TAROM offers only a few flights per destination, timing counts. Plan your visit around the arrival time and use weather, wind and runway direction to choose the right spot. With Planetrack you see weather, wind and active runways at the airport and find directions, best light and community photos on the spot map.

Common mix-ups

• Confusing the swallow with the LOT crane – both birds sit on a dark blue tail; the registration (YR- or SP-) brings clarity.
• Logging a 737 MAX 8 as a 737-800 – watch for the serrated nacelles and the split-tip winglets.
• Equating the ATR 72-500 and 72-600 – hardly distinguishable from the outside; the registration helps with cross-checking.
• Listing the Rombac 1-11 as a regular BAC One-Eleven – the Rombac aircraft were built in Romania and deserve an entry of their own.
• Taking TAROM for a low-cost airline – TAROM is a state-owned network airline with an alliance membership, unlike Wizz Air or the former Blue Air.
• Mixing up the Il-62 and the Vickers VC10 – both have four rear-mounted engines, but the Il-62 flew with TAROM, the VC10 did not.

Conclusion

TAROM is not an airline you see every day – and that is exactly what makes it appealing. Today’s fleet of Boeing 737s and ATR 72s is small enough to collect completely, and with the switch to the 737 MAX 8, now is the time to look at the older aircraft. Behind it is a history reaching back to 1920 that, in the years of the Cold War, brought together the Il-62, the Boeing 707 and One-Elevens built in Bucharest.