A new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft joining the TAROM fleet will be named after Ivan Patzaichin, the Olympic champion and one of the iconic figures of Romanian sport, the company announced on Wednesday.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES, the move is part of TAROM's initiative to name its aircraft after Romanians who have represented the country at the highest level and whose achievements have inspired generations. Earlier this year, the first Boeing 737 MAX to join the fleet was named 'Mircea Lucescu'.

By choosing the name 'Ivan Patzaichin' for another aircraft, TAROM is continuing to link the modernisation of its fleet with values such as achievement, discipline, perseverance and the ability to overcome obstacles.

The ceremony to sign the protocol authorising use of the name was held on Wednesday in the presence of Georgiana and Ivona Patzaichin, the champion's wife and daughter, and TAROM CEO Cristian Anghel.

Born in Mila 23 to a modest family of fishermen in the Danube Delta, Ivan Patzaichin rose from an isolated Delta village to the highest level of world sport.

'When he was little, my father was fascinated by the few aeroplanes that crossed the sky. He very much wanted to become a pilot. Later, whenever he travelled to sports competitions, he flew exclusively with TAROM. He was one of those enthusiasts who would go into the pilots' cockpit. Now Ivan is up in the sky again, and the aircraft bearing his name fulfils the dream of the child born in the Delta in an extremely special way,' Ivona Patzaichin said, according to the press release.

Through the name 'Ivan Patzaichin', the company is paying tribute to a sportsman who turned a journey that began in a small corner of Romania into a career recognised around the world.

'We deliberately chose for the most advanced aircraft in the TAROM fleet to bear the names of Mircea Lucescu and Ivan Patzaichin. First and foremost, this is the strongest tribute TAROM can pay to great representatives of Romanian sport. But the choice also speaks about the values they embodied. Ivan Patzaichin was born in Mila 23, into a modest family of fishermen, in an isolated part of the Delta. He could have remained unknown to the world and yet he reached the highest level of world sport. In Munich in 1972, when his paddle broke during a qualifying race, he did not give up and kept rowing. He continued the competition and won Olympic gold. It is a story of success built through hard work, discipline and determination. These are also the values TAROM needs today. We are at a point where we, too, have obstacles to overcome and a road ahead of us, and we can emerge from this situation through the same perseverance and confidence in what we can build,' Cristian Anghel said.

TAROM's initiative to name aircraft after leading figures in Romanian sport began in 2024. The 'Nadia Comaneci' aircraft was the first in the company's fleet to be named after a Romanian sportsperson.

The protocol authorising use of Nadia Comaneci's name was signed in April 2024, and the Boeing 737-800 aircraft carried Romania's Olympic team to the Paris Olympic Games. TAROM also marked the Year of Nadia with special RO 10 and RO 50 flights on 18 July. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Tilica; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)