Aviation News

United Airlines Finally Launches Moscow-Washington Flight

As of March 30, 2009, United Airlines will launch a direct flight between Moscow (Domodedovo Airport) and Washington (Dulles). The flight will be operated 5 times a week. The new flight route was previously announced in the Summer-2008, but was then postponed till 2009 due to the fuel price increase.

TAP Portugal Starts Flying Lisbon - Moscow

As of June 10, 2009, the Portuguese carrier TAP Portugal will start direct flights between Moscow and Lisbon. The flight is planned to operate 5 times a week. Previously there was only one direct flight between the two cities on a weekly basis by the Russian airline Krasair, prior to its closure in 2008.

Russian Aviation: Up in 2008, Down in 2009

The Russian Federal Agency for Air Transportation reports that in 2009 11.6 million passengers traveled abroad. The most popular destinations with regular flights were:  Germany (735 thousand passengers), followed by Egypt, Ukraine and China. The largest amount of charter passengers went to Turkey - 2.4 million people. Among the other Top 10 charter destinations in 2008 were: Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Emirates, Croatia and Tunisia.

However for 2009 the forecasts are more reserved, with the overall number of charter flights being decreased in the summer of 2009 by up to 30% compared with the summer of 2008. According to different estimates, passenger volumes in January - February 2009 have gone down by almost 40%. In February Russian airlines have cut their flights by 20% compared to the same period last year. The Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot, decreased its passenger volume by 9% in February 2009. According to the Head of Aeroflot, Valery Okulov, bookings for April show an 18% decline while May shows a decline of 14%, compared to last year. Experts say that out of 167 Russian airlines officially registered in Russia, only a small percentage will survive the crisis.