KAZAKHSTAN: SCAT Airlines Switching Destination Airport From Domodedovo To Vnukovo

Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines is in the process of switching the destination airport for its three Moscow services from Domodedovo to Vnukovo. The carrier performed its first flight into Vnukovo from Aktobe on September 6. By October 29, it will have similarly changed the Moscow destination for its other two routes, from Shymkent and Aktau.

This is our 20th year in operation, and we are currently working to develop our route network, SCAT Vice-President Marketing Alexandra Sytnik said. At the current stage, we find that Vnukovo offers convenient maintenance options, an appealing price policy, and a chance of concluding agreements with other airlines.

We have also received multiple requests from passengers to transfer to Vnukovo, which is located closer to the city and offers connection flights that are interesting to them.

Sytnik added that moving to Vnukovo should help the carrier keep its current prices despite the weaking Kazakhstani currency.

SCAT is the first Kazakh airline to launch flights to Vnukovo. The Russian capital city is a key destination for the airline, which expects traffic on its Moscow routes to grow further. In the first seven months of 2017 the figure stood at 33,800 passengers. up 16.5% year-on-year.

The carrier also plans to develop its route network through interline, code-sharing, and special prorate agreements.

We believe that Vnukovo will help us with this, Sytnik announced at the inauguration news conference for the Aktobe-Moscow route.

We will thus offer a great network of connection flights to Kazakh citizens, whereas Russian citizens will avail of our domestic route network, which is the most extensive in Kazakhstan.

This will give travelers the possibility to reach the farther corners of our country.

Sytnik said that SCAT is currently negotiating a possible interline and special prorate agreement, complete with full baggage transfer, with Russia’s UTair Aviation.

The latter uses Vnukovo as one of its bases, and performs about 160 flights per day from there.

SCAT Airlines currently operates 45 domestic and 22 international routes.

Its international destinations are in CIS countries and Georgia, as well as in China and Turkey.

The airline offers routes to several Russian cities other than Moscow, including Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Sochi, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody, and Kazan.

At present, SCAT is not allowed to operate flights between Moscow and Kazakhstan’s two largest cities, Astana and Almaty: the current intergovernmental agreements permits the two countries to designate only one operator each for these routes.

For the same reasons, Sytnik said the carrier cannot fly from Astana to Zhukovsky, another airport serving Moscow.

The airline believes that Zhukovsky offers great potential for cargo transportation.

The carrier is considering launching flights to Russia’s Orenburg, Chelyabinsk and St. Petersburg, and might relaunch operations to Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Tomsk.


Tourism Observer

TURKEY: Turkey-Russia Flights Drop Almost 50 Percent After Jet Crisis

Scheduled flights between Russia and Turkey by the two countries’ flag carriers have dropped almost 50 percent along with the number of passengers after the downing of Russian jet by Turkey on Nov. 24, 2015, a tourism official has said.

SKY Tourism Company official Faruk Yılmaz said Turkish Airlines’ daily flights to Moscow dropped from four to three flights a week, while Russian carrier Aeroflot Airlines decreased its daily flights from four to two.

“There has been a great decrease in occupancy rates in flights after the Nov. 24 2015 downing of a Russian jet, almost 50 percent in the number of passengers and flights,” Yılmaz noted.

He also said Aeroflot dropped its number of daily Moscow-Antalya flights to one.

In addition, Yılmaz said Turkish Airlines aimed to boost its flights during the summer season, increasing the number of Moscow-Istanbul flights from 21 to 28 and organizing two flights between Antalya and Moscow.

Turkish Airlines holds 21 flights a week to Moscow from Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport while Aeroflot organizes 14.

Low cost carrier Pegasus Airlines also organizes seven flights a week from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

Apart from Moscow, Turkish Airlines flies to many Russian destinations including Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Rostov, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk and Astrakhan.

Pegasus also flies to Krasnodar and Yekaterinburg.

UAE: Emirates Enhances Connectivity To Russia With S7 Deal

Emirates and Russian carrier S7 Airlines have enhanced their partnership which is set to improve connectivity and benefits for customers across Russia.

Emirates and S7 Airlines have been in an interline partnership since 2003 which was further enhanced in 2008.

The new codeshare deal further builds on this strong partnership and sees the Emirates code added to more than 30 routes operated by S7 Airlines across Russia as well as on S7’s twice weekly service between Dubai to Novosibirsk.

It also allows S7 to reciprocally put its code on the Dubai to Moscow route operated by Emirates.

The new agreement allows Emirates customers to connect seamlessly through Moscow to a range of destinations: Anapa, Astrakhan, Barnaul, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Mineralny Vody, Nizhnekamsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Noviy Urengoy, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Stavropol, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Vladikavkaz, Volgograd, Voronezh and Yekaterinburg.

The extended partnership also creates a direct link under Emirates’ code between St. Petersburg and Moscow, allowing visitors to experience Russia’s two largest cities with a single travel itinerary.

Thierry Antinori, Emirates executive vice president said: “Our new codeshare agreement with S7 Airlines provides our passengers with increased choice, flexibility and ease of connection to different cities within Russia from Dubai, ultimately offering a smoother, more convenient travel experience.”

Based at Domodedovo Airport, S7 Airlines operates flights to more than 80 cities from its Moscow hub. Emirates customers travelling on any of the 30 or more S7 codeshare routes will enjoy the same luggage allowance they are entitled to on their Emirates flight and have the convenience of a single ticket.

All Emirates’ passengers on S7 operated flights will receive boarding passes on check-in at their first departure point for all connecting flights, providing a seamless travel experience.

Anton Eremin, S7 group deputy chief executive, said: “This new codeshare agreement with Emirates is an exciting development for S7 customers.

“It provides them with convenient, seamless access to Dubai and onwards to the rest of the world through Emirates’ extensive route network, direct from their local airport.”