A sad end: Bankrupt Romanian airline Blue Air sells aircraft for Airbnbs as the government chases €38 million
November 14, 2025
In November 2025, the Romanian auction platform Azitis announced that three aircraft frames formerly of Blue Air were sold at auction for a combined total of just over €140,000. The airframes were non-operational, with engines and equipment removed.
Blue Air’s legacy: Aircraft become Airbnbs
As The Romania Journal reported, the stripped Boeing 737 aircraft were sold for over €45,000 each and will be converted into hotels and restaurants.
“We’ll be seeing more aeroplanes on Romania’s roads soon, as two additional aircraft frames are awaiting transport from Otopeni Airport,” Flavius Drăghici, COO of Azitis, told the publication. “The entrepreneur from Brașov who plans to build a hotel inside an aeroplane recently bought another one, while another Romanian businessman acquired the third.”
The executive went on to say that two more fuselages and two complete aircraft remain for sale on the platform. “They are drawing strong interest from investors—particularly from the HoReCa and events sectors—so we’ve already scheduled the upcoming auctions,” Drăghici added.
The Azitis auction site shows four upcoming auctions for Blue Air aircraft, some in a better state than others. Two Boeing 737s are seen without engines, one, a classic -300, seemingly barely held together, although the cabin seems to be in great condition.
Both ‘airframes’ have been stripped of anything of value, including bins, trolleys and avionics. The buyer will literally be getting just the shell (and the seats), but with a starting bid of just €11,000 ($12,700), perhaps still a bargain for someone.
Two further aircraft are being sold as complete aircraft. YR-AMA and YR-AME, both 737-500s, are still complete, with engines under the wings and everything as it was when they were last in service. The auction house states, however, that no maintenance or proper storage has been done since 2022, when the carrier ceased flying.
It would take a lot to return these 1991 vintage aircraft to flying condition, but perhaps someone will be feeling brave when the auctions open in 18 days. The starting price for the complete aircraft is much higher, at €238,250 ($276,000).
Romania needs to recover €38 million from bankrupt Blue Air
As these aircraft head for a second life in hospitality, the Romanian state is trying to recover around €38 million from Blue Air’s insolvency estate.
The European Commission ordered the recovery of pandemic support funds after the restructuring plan failed to restore the airline’s long-term viability, making the funding incompatible with EU state aid rules.
As reported by SeeNews, Blue Air received a €28 million public guarantee in 2020 to mitigate Covid-19-induced losses, and a €33.84 million public guarantee for a rescue loan to provide liquidity, both approved by the Commission.
The Romanian government agreed that if the public guarantee on the rescue loan were not terminated within six months of the first aid payment in October 2020, it would submit either a liquidation plan or a comprehensive restructuring plan for Blue Air to the Commission.
In April 2021, Romania submitted a restructuring plan, updated several times. In November 2022, Romania reimbursed the loan and took a 75% shareholding in Blue Air.
The airline had already suspended operations in September 2022 when the environment ministry froze its accounts. At the time, the company had accrued a debt of €230 million, which was about half the airline’s 2019 annual revenue of €458 million, the last year Blue Air made a profit.
Following an investigation launched in April 2023, the European Commission found that Blue Air’s restructuring plan was not in line with EU state aid rules, as the financial measures supported an unsustainable restructuring plan. The Commission mandated that Romania recover the illegal state aid granted to Blue Air. The total amount to be recovered is around €38 million, including accrued interest.
Blue Air formally declared bankruptcy just months ago
Blue Air formally declared bankruptcy in July 2025 after failing to find a strategic investor.
“Bankruptcy is the fairest solution for protecting the interests of creditors in the current context and is intended to maximise the chances of debt recovery,” SeeNews quotes Radu Tudor, senior partner at Infinexa and judicial liquidator of Blue Air, as saying.
Records show the airline’s debts had risen to €253 million by 2024, with its fixed assets valued at €1.6 million and current assets valued at €34.8 million. With limited assets remaining, the sale of its three stripped aircraft has yielded a trickle towards the company’s total debt to creditors and the government.
Get all the latest commercial aviation news on AGN here.
Featured Image: Eric Salard | Wikimedia Commons
