Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Several carriers take over Transaero’s Russian Far East routes

Several carriers are taking over Transaero’s domestic destinations to Russia’s Far East after authorities canceled its air operator’s certificate Oct. 26 due to financial and safety concerns.

Aeroflot, VIM Avia and Ikar Airlines (Pegas Fly) will replace Transaero flights on three domestic destinations connecting Moscow with Russia’s Far East. Transaero had been the only airline operating flights from Moscow to Anadyr, Magadan and Blagoveshchensk.

On Oct. 27, Aeroflot launched a weekly A330 Moscow-Magadan flights. VIM Avia started 4X-weekly Boeing 757-200 service on the same route, while Pegas Fly announced 2X-weekly Boeing 767-300 flights to the destination in the IATA winter season 2015/2016.

VIM Avia and Pegas Fly will also operate Moscow-Blagoveshchensk flights 7X-weekly and 3X-weekly, respectively. In addition, UTair started 2X-weekly Moscow-Anadyr 767-200 service on Oct. 25.

Aeroflot also announced a capacity increase on several Russian Far East routes—from Moscow to Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Khabarovsk and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. According to the carrier, all available seats on Far East routes are booked for Transaero passengers. “Only then can empty seats, if some remain, be sold in the market,” according to a carrier statement.

“Russia’s Far East region is particularly responsive in case of transport accessibility as there are no alternatives to air transport. To solve the ticket deficit problems that arose after Transaero ceased flights, we launched additional flights and operated more spacious aircraft. We expect the situation will normalize in the near future, but ask passengers to understand the temporary complexity,” Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev said.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia reported that Aeroflot has carried 1.8 million Transaero passengers through Oct. 26. The airline plans to carry 87,950 passengers through Dec. 15. In addition, there are 67,000 passengers with tickets beyond this date that Aeroflot will issue a refund.

(Polina Montag-Girmes - ATWOnline News)

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