The roots of Moldavian civil aviation The origin of Air Moldova can be traced to 19 September 1944, when the first unit of Po-2 transport aircraft arrived in Chișinău and the Moldavian Independent Squadron was established. Aside from fifteen aircraft
Po-2 biplanes operating domestic flights and serving in the agricultural role, there were also two
Li-2 aircraft, used on flights to Moscow, some Ukrainian cities and to Black Sea and Caucasus summer resorts. In the 1960s, considerable steps were made in the development of the local Moldavian airline industry. A new airport in Chișinău able to accommodate gas turbine aircraft was opened early in the decade. The enterprise received status of
Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1965, and new
Antonov An-10,
An-12 and
An-24 aircraft expanded its fleet. Regular flights to many cities in the USSR were begun, and the transportation of fruits and vegetables grown in Moldova to the largest industrial centers of the USSR was established. The beginning of the 1970s was marked by the appearance of jet aircraft on Moldova's main air routes. The first
Tupolev Tu-134 twin-jet airliner began service in Moldova in 1971 and became the main aircraft type of the enterprise, increasing in number until at one point 26 of them were in use. In Chișinău there was even an all-union test basis for aircraft of this type. The fleet was further enlarged in 1972 with the
Yakovlev Yak-42 tri-jet regional aircraft and in 1974 with the An-26 turboprop cargo aircraft. The route map kept expanding and the flow of traffic kept growing throughout the decade. In the middle of the 1980s, Moldavian operations received ten larger
Tupolev Tu-154 tri-jet airliners, furthering the development of Moldavian aviation. At that time Moldavian aircraft flew to 73 cities in the USSR and carried over 1,000,000 passengers per year. In 1990, the first international route between Chișinău and
Frankfurt was opened.
Creation of Air Moldova The airline was created in 1993 on the basis of the local
Aeroflot unit. Since the very start, the company's efforts were targeted at integration to the international market and compliance with the modern standards and requirements to high-end airlines. Air Moldova joined the management team improvement program in 1999. On 13 July 2004, Air Moldova became an
International Air Transport Association member. Air Moldova had also passed the operation safety audit and received the
IOSA operator certificate. In May 2006, Air Moldova implemented e-ticketing on all its flights. The Air Moldova air operators certificate permitted the transport of passengers, goods and mail as of July 2007. In 2012, Air Moldova transported 506,000 passengers, which increased in 2013 to 527,000 passengers. Further expansion occurred in February 2015 as Air Moldova ceased three routes to
Bucharest,
Kyiv and
Sochi, as the contract with
Tandem Aero, which operated them on behalf of Air Moldova, was discontinued. All these factors lead to, Air Moldova transporting 1,000,000 passengers for the first time. In October 2018, it was announced that the process of privatising Air Moldova had been completed successfully, with Civil Aviation Group (a joint venture between two Moldovan business men and the Romanian airline
Blue Air) becoming its owner for the sum of 50 million
MDL (2.56 million EUR). The new owners also bought the airline's debts of 1.2 billion MDL (61 million EUR).
Suspension of operations Air Moldova stated it would suspend all flight operations between 21 and 25 April 2023, citing ongoing financial issues. This also caused a dispute with the Moldovan aviation authorities which had mandated the airline restructure measures as well as an involved bank. On 2 May 2023, Air Moldova announced the suspension of all operations due to financial constrains, planning restructuring measures and filing for creditor protection. On 29 May 2023, The director and deputy director of the airline were summoned to court for exceeding their duties. Air Moldova's A320 navigability certificate expired on 21 August 2023. Due to the expiration of Air Moldova's air operator certificate, the airline's service will remain suspended. ==Destinations==