Aviation News

More Low-Cost Carriers Come to Russia

As of June, 2009, the Spanish low-cost carrier Clickair started daily flights from St-Petersburg to Barcelona. Another low-cost carrier, Blue Wings from Germany, has resumed flights from Moscow to Dusseldorf, which were previously stopped due to the financial difficulties. The carrier, owned by the Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev, has also added new flights to Moscow from Munster, Leipzig and Baden-Baden. In mid-June, a low cost carrier from Turkey, Pegasus Airlines, started regular direct flights from the city of Krasnodar in the South of Russia to Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul.

 

AA and Delta Flights Closing

In August 2009, American Airlines will reduce frequency of their Moscow - Chicago flights and close the route by October. Another US airline, Delta, will close its Moscow - Atlanta flight in late September.

 

S7 Joins Oneworld Alliance

One of the leading Russian airlines, S7 (formerly known as Sibir), will join the Oneworld Alliance in 2012. The alliance includes leading airlines including: British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, and covers 750 destinations in almost 150 countries. S7 will expand the alliances destination coverage by adding a large number of CIS destinations to the Oneworld network. Earlier this year, the airline struggled to restructure its $74 million debt, which led to the purchase of 15 Dreamliners from Boeing. However, Oneworld is confident S7 will eventually resolve its financial difficulties soon.

 

Russian Airlines Loose Traffic

According to the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transportation, there was a decrease in airline traffic of 35% compared to 2008. The Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot had a 13.4% passenger reduction and 61.3% reduction in occupancy.