RUSSIA: Pobeda Airlines Opens New Routes

Pobeda launched two new connections on the same day on 2 June, commencing services from Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) to Bordeaux (BOD) and from St.Petersburg (LED) to Girona (GRO).

The former 2,906-kilometre route and the latter 2,733-kilometre link will both be operated twice-weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays with 737-800s.

Neither route faces any direct competition.

The Vnukovo link is the only route Pobeda is currently scheduled to operate to Bordeaux in S18.

It will serve Girona from both Vnukovo and St. Petersburg this summer.

Pobeda has launched a twice-weekly - Thursdays and Sundays link from its main base at Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) to Berlin Tegel (TXL).

The 737-800-operated sector will become the LCC’s fifth destination served from the Russian capital city, adding to its existing flights to Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Cologne Bonn, Leipzig/Halle and Memmingen.

Commenced on 26 April, the 1,590-kilometre sector faces competition from Utair, which flies the route on a daily basis.

Pobeda, the Russian low-cost airline, used the last seven days to launch four new routes, two from its main Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) base, and two from St. Petersburg (LED), its second biggest operation in terms of weekly seats.

The average sector length of the four new city pairs is 1,607 kilometres, with the longest being the 2,235-kilometre route from St. Petersburg to Pisa (PSA).

While the shortest service is the 715-kilometre domestic airport pair from Vnukovo to Ulyanovsk (ULV).

In 2018, Pobeda will continue to expand the geography of its flights from St. Petersburg.

In S18 the airline will start flights to Gyumri (Armenia), Girona (Spain), Tbilisi (Georgia), as well to the Russian cities of Kaliningrad, Nizhnekamsk, and Ulyanovsk.

Pobeda premiered its eighth route from St. Petersburg (LED) on 12 January according to OAG schedules, with the carrier commencing a link from Russia’s second-largest city to Magas (IGT).

The airline will offer a weekly (Fridays) 737-800-operated service on the 2,084-kilometre link, with no other carrier presently flying between the two cities.

Pobeda already has a presence at Magas, with a daily rotation to the southern Russian airport from Moscow Vnukovo.

Pobeda commenced flights from Rostov-on-Don (ROV) to Batumi (BUS) on 26 May.

The 666-kilometre link between the Russian and Georgian cities will be flown by the carrier twice-weekly - Wednesdays and Sundays on the airline’s fleet of 737-800s.

No other airline presently operates flights on this city pair.

Batumi becomes the second destination in Georgia that Pobeda flies to from Rostov-on-Don, with it also serving Tbilisi three times weekly this summer from the Russia airport.

Along with the two routes from Rostov-on-Don, the carrier also flies to the Georgian capital from St. Petersburg twice-weekly this summer.

Pobeda now offers three Italian points on its network and a total of 16 weekly frequencies to the country following the introduction of a three times weekly operation to Venice Treviso (TSF) on 21 February.

The link from its main Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) base will join the LCC’s existing services to Milan Bergamo and Pisa.

The 2,066-kilometre sector is operated by Pobeda’s ubiquitous 737-800 fleet, and faces no direct competition.

Although Aeroflot offers a double-daily service from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Venice Marco Polo, while Ural Airlines flies weekly to the same Venetian gateway from Moscow Domodedovo.

Pobeda introduced flights between Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) and Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) on 16 April, with the latter airport becoming the airline’s fourth destination in Germany after Cologne Bonn, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and Memmingen.

The airline will operate the 1,706-kilometre route to its newest destination three times weekly using its fleet of 737-800s, with no other carrier presently operating the same airport pair.

Pobeda’s new service is currently the only scheduled route between Russia and the German city.


Tourism Observer

UKRAINE: Ryanair To Fly From Ukraine

Ryanair is going to Ukraine.

The Irish low-cost carrier (LCC) has officially announced the launching of flights to two Ukrainian cities, Kyiv (Boryspil Airport) and Lviv, in October 2017.

From Kyiv, Ryanair will operate to London, Manchester, Eindhoven, and Stockholm (Skavsta Airport). The airline expects to carry around 250,000 passengers annually on its 15 weekly flights from Boryspil to all four destinations.

“Last week our airport presented a discount offer to all carriers,” Boryspil General Director Pavlo Ryabikin commented. “We are offering 75% discounts to all airlines for launching new destinations.

Three out of Ryanair's four flights are automatically covered by these discounts. We will now have to complete a lot of negotiations on the technical aspects of this.”

Ryabikin added that at the moment, the only document outlining the terms and conditions of Ryanair operations to Ukraine is a letter of intent signed between the airline and the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry.

The final contract between the airport and the carrier has yet to be signed.

Ryanair’s route network from Lviv, which operates in the open skies mode, will be even broader: the carrier will fly to Wroclaw, Warsaw, Berlin, Memmingen, Budapest, London, and Eindhoven. The cumulative traffic on these routes is forecast at 260,000 passengers annually, Ukrainian daily Segodnya reports.

Lviv Airport General Director Tetyana Romanovska confirmed having receved an offer from Ryanair in June 2016. She was not prepared to comment on the LCC's planned fares: “However, for us to support this carrier's flights we need to think of ways to compensate the costs of the airport services.

We are currently discussing this issue with the Infrastructure Ministry, and are considering developing landside revenue activities, such as shops, restaurants, and parking services.”

Ukraine will become the 34th country in Ryanair's route network. According to Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, the country's authorities have been making attempts to attract the low-cost carrier since 2011.

The Ukrainian air travel market is actively recovering, and the government is working to bring more low-cost airlines to it.

Although the lack of an open skies agreement with the EU is hindering the process, the ministry is drafting a program of preferences and discounts for budget carriers.

Wizz Air, Ryanair's direct competitor (especially on the Central and East European markets), is already present in Ukraine.

It flies to Kyiv's Zhulyany, whose chairman of the board, Denys Kostrzhevskyy, says the Hungarian LCC is the largest traffic generator for that airport.

Ryanair was initially supposed to fly from Zhulyany as well, but changed its plans eventually.

Wizz Air used to operate to Lviv and is planning to return to that city in April, initially flying to Wroclaw. The LCC will launch a service between Lviv and Berlin Shoenefeld on June 18.

The two carriers will come to compete directly on these routes eventually.

Ryanair is gradually increasing its presence in Eastern Europe and driving Wizz Air out.

The Irish LCC has announced plans to become the leader on the Central and East European air travel market by 2018.

Wizz Air last year opened a base at Kutaisi, Georgia.

Several Georgian media outlets have reported recently that Ryanair is planning to launch flights to the country, after the code of Tbilisi airport appeared on the airline's destination list.

The assumption was supported by Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili following his meeting with Ryanair COO David O'Brien.

A Ryanair spokesperson replied to Russian Aviation Insider's formal query that the airline “does not comment on rumors and assumptions”.