RUSSIA: Nordwind Airlines Leasing Two Boeing 777-300ER Widebody Airliners

Russian carrier Nordwind Airlines is leasing two Boeing 777-300ER widebody airliners from Dubai-based lessor DAE Capital (part of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise). The aircraft were previously operated by EVA Air of Taiwan.

To implement its feeder strategy, which covers 200 destinations, in the coming fall-winter season, Nordwind Airlines continues to expand its widebody fleet and is preparing to put two Boeing 777-300s into operation.

The first of the two aircraft arrived at the airline’s home base Sheremetyevo on August 31.

Following the requisite customs procedures, in early September the airliner will start performing charter flights from Moscow.

The carrier will receive the second aircraft next week.

The two Boeings, to be registered as VP-BJL and VP-BJO, were built in 2005.

They will become the first airliners in Nordwind’s fleet to have a three-class cabin layout,312 seats in total: 38 in business, 63 in premium economy, and 211 in coach.

Nordwind already operates four Boeing 777-200s, which seat 393 passengers in two classes.

The new addition will bring the carrier’s total fleet up to 22 aircraft.

It also has Airbus A330-200s, A321s, and additional four airframes are expected to be delivered by year-end.

Nordwind’s passenger traffic grew 85.4% year-on-year in January-July 2017, reaching 1.598 million; its seat load factor droped by 2.9 percentage points to 86.9%.

Nordwind Airlines is a Russian scheduled and charter airline.

The company is headquartered in Moscow, with its main hub at Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Nordwind Airlines primarily operates service between airports in Russia and holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Nordwind Airlines was founded in August 2008 by the Russian and Turkish branches of tour operator Pegas Touristik, initially operating 3 Boeing 757-200 aircraft to/from 6 cities.

Since then, the fleet has been greatly expanded, including the introduction of the Airbus A321 and the Boeing 767-300.

By 2015, Nordwind operated service to/from 33 cities.

In 2017, the company expanded its fleet with 2 A330s.

The number of passengers transported was as follows:

Year Passengers
2008 20,000
2009 555,000
2010 1.2 million
2011 1.7 million
2012 2.2 million
2013 3.4 million
2014 4.4 million


Nordwind operates service to Europe, Middle East and Africa,South America and Asia.



Tourism Observer

TURKEY: Russian Tourists To Turkey Grow,Oslo Airport Opens

Russian tourists decreased in 2016 but number of those visiting relatives or friends and number of visiting special events remained about the same.

However beginning of summer season in 2017, tour operators say outbound travel will grow this year. TUI Russia alone plans to increase travel volume by 3.5 times.

The reasons behind the decline in outbound travel are some events including:

EGYPT

• Oct 2015 - Airplane with Russian tourists crashed in Sinai due to terrorist act. On 6 Nov 2015 Russia stopped civil air communication with Egypt. Not reopened till now

• 11 Oct 2016 – terrorist act in Cairo near St Mark's Cathedral

TURKEY

• 24 Nov 2015 – Turkey shot down a Russian military plane near the Syrian border.

• 28 Nov 2015 – Russia stopped charter air communication with Turkey, lasted till 28 Aug 2016

• Terrorist acts in Turkey in 2016-2017

EUROPE

• Ongoing flow of news about troubles with refugees in Europe

• 14 July 2016 - Truck attack at Bastille Day celebration in Nice (France)

• 19 Dec 2016 - Truck attack at the Christmas Market in Berlin (Germany)

Now in 2017, Russia’s relations with Turkey have entered a revival period. The first charter plane arrived today to Gazipasa - Alanya Airport on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. A total of 189 Russian travelers that purchased holiday package from Coral Travel will enjoy warm and traditional Turkish hospitality at Alanya hotels.

Turkey remains the most popular summer destination for Russian tourists and Turkish people are also happy to welcome them. Russia was the second largest source of foreign tourists visiting Turkey before the crisis that started in late 2015.

As the relations revive, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has announced the possibility of extending the term of visa-free stay for Russian citizens in Turkey. "The period of visa-free stay for Russians in Turkey will be increased from 60 to 90 days," Cavusoglu said in a conference.

Taras Demurai CEO TUI Russia and Ukraine, said that they expected to send at least 200 thousand Russian tourists to Turkey and 150 thousand to other countries. He also said that before the start of the season TUI has sold about 30% of summer tours to Turkey.

According to the news at the website of the Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR), Turkish hotels already started to attract more Russian tourists by offering special discounts around 10-15% especially for the May holidays.

CEO of Biblio Globus tour operator Irina Kostenko commented that this year's Turkey sales during May holiday period are really good thanks to the special offers by Turkish hotels.

Pegas Touristik also confirmed the positive growth of sales during the May holiday period.

Coral Travel said that for the month of May, they reached 82% capacity; a similar amount is achieved in 2015.

No flights to Egypt yet

A year and a half has passed since the downing of the Russian plane in Sinai, but the Russian government is still preventing its citizens from traveling to Egypt.

British flight ban also continues to Egypt, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a travel warning in place against British citizens traveling to Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport.

Meanwhile, Oslo Airport was officially opened today as Norway’s main airport. The increased capacity is at approx. 32 million passengers annually.

The Minister of Transport and Communications and the CEO of Avinor tied together a ribbon, to symbolise that "Avinor ties Norway together". Solvik-Olsen told the attendees that Norway’s main airport is important to the whole nation.

"Norway depends on a well-functioning main airport. We now have a large international airport that will be the pride of the entire nation. This is a state-run flagship project that has been on schedule and within budget. Avinor can safely be proud of the work put into this expansion", says Solvik-Olsen.

Since construction began in 2011, there has been great focus on not letting the expansion work affect the passengers and airlines.

This has been challenging, as Oslo Airport has experienced an increase in traffic each year, and surpassed 25 million passengers in 2016.

"This is an important day for Norwegian aviation, and we are very proud of the new Oslo Airport. We are happy that it was delivered on time and within budget, while maintaining a high quality.

The thousands of people that have worked day and night since the resolution to expand was made in the spring of 2011 deserve a big round of applause", says Avinor Chairman, Ola Mørkved Rinnan.

Avinor CEO Dag Falk-Petersen said, "We have invested NOK 14 billion in this expansion, and it will make Norway more competitive on an international level. It is important for Norway to have a well-functioning hub, which Oslo Airport is to us, and the profit from this is used to finance the rest of the Norwegian aviation network", says Falk-Petersen and adds:

The airport has almost doubled in size, and the gates have been renamed. This means that even experienced Norwegian travellers should pay close attention to the signs.

Facts about the new Oslo Airport:

Capacity: 32 million passengers annually

New areas: 117,000 square metres

Total area: 265,000 square metres

New gates: 11 new jet bridged gates

New remote aircraft parking spaces: 10

Number of restaurants: 37

Number of kiosks: 10

Number of shops: 21

INDIA: Goa Tourism Industry Unhappy With Time Restrictions At Airport

The time restrictions at the airport, which doubles up as an airbase of the Indian Navy, can affect as many as nine flights daily, including the international ones, as well as the chartered flights which mainly come from Russia.

Concerns have been raised by the tourism industry over the closure of runway at Goa's Dabolim Airport between 10 PM to 4 AM everyday for repairs, as the move has come at a time when the tourist season is about to start.

The time restrictions at the airport, which doubles up as an airbase of the Indian Navy, can affect as many as nine flights daily, including the international ones, as well as the chartered flights which mainly come from Russia.
The restrictions imposed by the Navy which came into effect from Thursday and will be in place until November 29.

"This is a very bad move at the start of the tourism season. Combined with the economic slowdown in Europe and especially in Russia, it is a very bleak news for the tourism industry," said Nilesh Shah, vice-president of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG). TTAG has taken up the issue with the state tourism department as well as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who is here over the weekend.

Runway repairs, the second this year, should have been postponed until the end of the tourism season or should have been conducted during the time the Navy reserves the runway for itself, some industry representatives said.
On normal days, the airport is closed for civilian operations between 7 AM to 1 PM every day. Earlier a delegation of representatives of Pegas Touristik, Russia's largest charter tourism operator, had called on the state tourism minister. Besides seeking relaxation in airport time, it also sought reduction of aircraft handling fees at Dabolim.