TAROM (RO, Bucharest Henri Coanda) has issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the dry-lease of at least one jet capable of seating 160-190 passengers in a two-class configuration.

According to tender documents seen by ch-aviation, eligible aircraft must have a range of between 2,500 - 4,500 nautical miles (4,630 - 8,334 kilometres) and must have an MTOW of 79 tonnes. Preference will be given to new-build aircraft although those younger than 6 years of age will also be accepted.

The lease will run for a period of ten years and must include the option for Tarom to buy the aircraft once its term concludes.

In addition, the lessor should also include a buy-back option for Tarom's current narrowbody fleet which currently includes four A318-100s, four B737-300s, four B737-700s, and four B737-800s. The entire lot is owned with the exception of the -800s which are leased from BCC Equipment Leasing (two), FLY Leasing (one), and Nomura Babcock & Brown (one).

The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2019.

In June, Tarom signed a contract with Nordic Aviation Capital for the lease of nine ATR72-600s with deliveries to run from October 2019 through to the end of 2020. The turboprops will replace the state-owned Romanian carrier's fleet of seven ATR42-500s and two ATR72-500s all of which, Romanian Transport Minister Răzvan Cuc said, will be traded back to ATR - Avions de Transport Régional.