Aviation News

New Flights to Moscow from China and Morocco

China's Hainan Airlines are opening regular flights from Moscow to Beijing, out of Sheremetyevo airport, they will fly 3 times a week. Morocco's national carrier Royal Air Maroc is launching a direct flight between Moscow and Casablanca. As of March 2009 the negotiations between the two sides are in their final stage. The flights are planned to fly 2-3 times a week. In 2008 17,000 Russian visited Morocco, and in January-February 2009, despite the economic slowdown, the numbers showed an 8% growth.

Aeroflot Bids to Buy Czech Airlines

Russia's flag carrier Aeroflot has submitted its bid to buy the national Czech carrier CSA. Experts estimate the deal to cost around $255 million. Other bidders for CSA are Air France-KLM, private equity company Odien and a consortium of two Czech companies. The winner will be announced in September this year.

Russian Aviation: Statistics for 2009

According to the official estimates, passenger traffic carried by the Russian airlines in February 2009 dropped by 26%, and in January 2009 by 17%, compared to the same periods of last year. The largest Russian airline Aeroflot estimated that the traffic in February 2009 went down by 16%. Industry experts say for the results of 2008 Aeroflot is the only carrier to complete the year with profit, while all other Russian airlines experienced losses.