RUSSIA: UVT Aero To Commence International Flights

Russian carrier UVT Aero, which launched operations in July 2015, has been cleared by the national aviation authority to perform international flights.

Under Russian laws, a newly established airline can be authorized to fly abroad commercially after two years of domestic operations.

The Tatarstan-based airline filed the relevant request with the Federal Air Transport Agency on July 10, 2017.

It then successfully passed the requisite fleet, personnel, and documentation inspections.

UVT Aero has yet to officially identify its international destinations.

The airline is reportedly planning to fly from Kazan to the exclave city of Kaliningrad, which is separated from mainland Russia by foreign territory so requires an international flight clearance to get to.

UVT Aero CEO Petr Trubaev in August 2016 said the carrier was planning to launch flights to CIS countries first, to be followed by services to farther abroad.

One year later, the operator announced it would be renewing its fleet of seven 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets.

UVT Aero is currently choosing between the Embraer E190/E195, Airbus A319, and Boeing 737-700; the management not ruling out the possibility of going for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet.

The Tatarstan government is expected to have a say in the final decision.

New aircraft should be delivered in Q1 2018, so that the carrier could start the new summer season with a larger fleet.

The airline is expecting to receive three aircraft initially, which it will use for charter operations.

Subsequent fleet expansion is to proceed gradually.

UVT Aero is based at Tatarstan’s Kazan, Bugulma, and Begishevo airports. In January through July 2017 it ranked 30th on the list of Russia’s largest airlines by passenger traffic, serving more than 130,600 passengers (+23% year-on-year).

The carrier expects to turn a profit of 118.9 million rubles ($2 million) this year, despite having launched a costly scheduled engine repair program.



Tourism Observer

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

RUSSIA: AZUR Air To Fly To Goa,From Eight Russian Cities

Russian airline company “AZUR Air” has planned an ambitious program of flights to Goa, the popular Indian resort, from eight Russian cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa.

Airline “AZUR Air” in the winter season has significantly expanded its destination network by adding a number of departures from the Russian regions to the Indian resort. So, the flights to the International Airport Dabolim (Goa) from Ufa, Samara, Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod will be absolutely new directions in the schedule of flights.

Today, October 18, the flight program begins from Ekaterinburg to Goa, since October 20 - from Ufa, since October 21 - from Kazan, October 24 - from Rostov-on-Don, October 25 – from Samara, October 27 - from Nizhny Novgorod and St Petersburg. The average flight frequency on each of these directions – is every ten days. Flights will be performed by Boeing 757-200 airplanes with a capacity of 238 passenger seats.

In addition, on October 15 a new winter program of flights was launched from Moscow Domodedovo airport to Dabolim International Airport. The flights will be implemented 3 times a week. The entire program of flights to the Indian resort Goa will be performed till the end of March within the framework of the winter schedule.

Michael Kritskii, CEO of “AZUR Air” said: “in the winter season the company significantly expands its route network. A priority for us is - to open new routes not only from Moscow but from regional airports also. Thus, we provide to our passengers from regions the opportunity to optimally plan their holiday, to depart from the nearest airports to them and not waste time in connecting flights".

It is noted, that in the last autumn-winter season the airline passenger traffic of “AZUR Air” to the Indian resort amounted 73.5 thousand people.

The airline company “AZUR Air” is a young Russian brand on the air passenger transportation market and one of the major charter airlines companies in the country. The first flight under this brand was in December 2014. “AZUR Air” performs flights on international routes, ensuring the needs of the largest Russian tour operators. Today, in the rating of the Russian airlines companies the “AZUR Air” is the eighth best by number of passengers and the fifth - by passenger traffic. The aircraft fleet consists of fifteen aircraft, including nine Boeing 757-200 and six Boeing 767-300. “AZUR Air” flies from thirty Russian cities on twenty-nine international tourist routs.

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.”