RUSSIA: I FLY Air Hostess Strangled In Hotel Room By Unknown Lover

Albina Mukhametzyanova, 23, was understood to have been strangled, according to reports citing law enforcement.

Her corpse was discovered clothed in the bath, which was full with water, at a four-star hotel close to Moscow’s Vnukovo international airport.

She was using the hotel between flights, with staff saying she had shared the suite several times with a man, 25, named by investigators as Nikita E.

He is not known to her friends or family, according to reports.

One theory being explored is that she met him through a dating app, and had gone to the hotel reception to extend the suite for 24 hours before leaving the hotel by taxi and vanishing.

It is understood Albina was strangled

She always wanted to be a flight attendant. It was really her dream.

Her body was then later found by hotel staff.

Albina had worked as a flight attendant for a charter airline called I FLY and had made work trips to China and Vietnam as well as Russian cities.

She was described as “vivacious” and “happy”, training as a paramedic before switching to her career as a flight attendant.

A friend said: She always wanted to be a flight attendant. It was really her dream.

She had worked in this company for three months. She was a very positive person.

Police are tracing Albina's apparent ex-lover.

When we saw her, she never stopped laughing.

And her sister, Landysh, 26, said: She was so happy and beautiful.

I cannot believe that we will never see her again. She had no boyfriend.

I always asked her about her personal life, but she said that it was too early for her to think about it.

But in social networks, I could see that she had lots of fans. But there was nothing serious. I would know.

My sister was the closest person to me.


Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: Flydubai B737 Plane Halted After Attempted Take Off Without Clearance From Air Traffic Control

Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport makes the headlines again. In what could be called a severe misstep by flydubai’s pilots, on December 2, 2018, the airline’s Boeing 737-800 attempted take off without clearance from the air traffic control (ATC).

The plane was halted to avoid a possible ground collision with another incoming aircraft.

Air traffic controllers had to instruct the Dubai-bound Boeing 737-800 (registration A6-FEQ), which had not received clearance, to abort its take off roll from runway 06R at Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) as another arriving aircraft, an Aeroflot Airbus A330 (registration VQ-BBF), was crossing the runway at the same time.

The separation between the two planes at that point was about 2,050 meters (6,725 ft).

According to the airline, the 737, which was cleared for take-off, returned to stand for refueling and de-icing prior to proceeding to take-off for the second time in line with standard procedures and in coordination with ATC.

The jetliner eventually departed from Sheremetyevo at 08:57 local time, making it a delay of a total of 3 hours and 12 minutes.

Flydubai is aware of media reports regarding flydubai flight FZ918 from Sheremetyevo to Dubai on 02 December.

Clarification has been requested from the necessary authorities and there is an ongoing investigation, spokesperson for flydubai stated.

Russia is an important market for state-owned UAE carrier. Having started flights to Russia in 2010, Flydubai launched daily services from Sheremetyevo to Dubai International Airport (DXB) in November 2017, in addition to its service from Moscow‘s Vnukovo International Airport (VKO).

Now, Dubai is one of the key international destinations served from Sheremetyevo, the airline states.


Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: Qatar Airways Buys 25% Stake In Vnukovo International Airport, One Of The Largest And Busiest

Qatar Airways has bought a 25 per cent stake in one of Moscow’s largest airports for an undisclosed sum as the company attempts to overcome the Gulf blockade of the emirate.

Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways, said on Monday that the airline expected the deal on Vnukovo to be concluded within the next eight weeks.

The airport, Russia’s third-largest, served 18m passengers last year and is used by the government for official travel. Businessman Vitaly Vantsev and partners own a 74.9 per cent stake of Vnukovo.

Mr Al Baker did not say whether he was buying from Mr Vantsev, but Russia’s state property management service said it had no plans to privatise its 25 per cent stake.

Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, visited Moscow on Monday for a bilateral meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, a vital international partner, as the blockade by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries continues to harm the emirate’s economy.

Until the blockade was imposed in June, Qatar Airways had bucked a downturn in Gulf airlines’ performance, posting net profit growth of 22 per cent to $541m in the 2016 financial year.

But the blockade immediately closed off 18 destinations and while Qatar has refused to quantify the impact, it is likely to be incurring huge costs on rerouting aircraft.

The airline has gone on the offensive, acquiring stakes in Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Italy’s Meridiana to boost traffic.

Qatar has invested significantly in Russia in recent years. Qatar Investment Authority, its sovereign wealth fund, bought a 25 per cent stake in St Petersburg’s airport in 2016 for €238m together with the $10bn state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which co-invests with foreign investors in Russian companies.

Later that year, the Qatar Investment Authority, headed a consortium with commodities trader Glencore that took a 19.5 per cent stake in Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft for €10.2bn.

The consortium then struck a deal in September to sell 14 per cent of Rosneft to mysterious Chinese commodities house CEFC for $9.1bn, with much of the financing coming from Russian state bank VTB.

However, that deal is under threat after Chinese authorities detained CEFC founder Ye Jiaming last month and Chinese state-owned conglomerate Citic, which is wary over US sanctions against Rosneft and its chief executive Igor Sechin, considered taking a stake in the company.

Glencore has said it still expects the deal to close in the second half of 2018.



Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: Pobeda Airlines LLC

Pobeda Airlines LLC is a Russian low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeroflot. It is based in Vnukovo International Airport, with secondary bases in Anapa and Sochi. It operates scheduled services to domestic and international destinations.

The company Budget Carrier, LLC was registered on 16 September 2014 with Aeroflot as the only shareholder. It is the second attempt of Aeroflot to form a low-cost carrier, after Dobrolet, which ceased operation in August 2014.

Pobeda received an air operator's certificate on 11 November 2014, and commerced its maiden flight on 1 December of the same year,from Moscow-Vnukovo to Volgograd. The carrier surpassed 2 million passengers in September 2015, after nine months into service.

The airline had hoped to introduce a Moscow to Bratislava service in October 2015, but the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency turned down an application to operate international flights as the airline has to operate internally for at least two years first.
The authority for Bratislava Airport and Pobeda, however, announced the launch of first international flight to Bratislava, to be commenced on 19 December 2015. Pobeda also market their service from Moscow to Vienna, Austria via fly-and-ride scheme, with bus from Bratislava to Vienna included as part of the service.

In December 2015, Pobeda cancelled their planned route to Salzburg after only 34 tickets were sold.

Pobeda Airlines fleet includes 12 Boeing 737-800

RUSSIA: 11-year-old Boards Rossiya Airlines flight At Vnukovo International Airport Undetected

A Russian schoolgirl who had never been on a plane before managed to slip past security officials and board a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg.

Without any form of ID or a plane ticket, the 11-year-old passed through security at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport this week completely undetected.

A video of the incident shows her ducking beneath the barriers and mingling with a large crowd as other passengers go through security procedures.

From there, she was able to get on a Rossiya Airlines flight, where cabin crew failed to notice the unaccompanied minor.

When the 90-minute flight landed, she received a call from her parents, who became worried when she didn't return home from school.

They were stunned to learn she was at St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport.

Airport staff were contacted, and the girl was handed over to child services who arranged for her return to the Russian capital.

The girl's mother said she planned to sue Moscow Vnukovo International Airport and Rossiya Airlines for failing to carry out proper checks.

Both the airport and airline are now facing a review of security procedures.

The curious young traveller reportedly said she had wanted to see the city and experience what it was like to fly.