| Flying on Aeroflot planes has become $10-$15 more expensive Aeroflot will fly more often in the coming winter season, the level of comfort on its boards will exceed world standards, however, tickets of the national Russian airline will cost passengers a little more than before. Their cost will automatically jump by 10-15 dollars from November 1, Aeroflot commercial director Evgeny Bachurin said yesterday at a press conference dedicated to the company’s introduction of a “winter” schedule, which will be valid until March 26, 2006. According to him, due to the continuous increase in the cost of aviation fuel on the world market, Aeroflot, following many large Western airlines, is forced to introduce a special “fuel surcharge” to its tariffs. Its average size will be 10-15 dollars, although in reality the surcharge will be set individually on each route: on domestic Russian routes - less, on international routes - more.
Until mid-October, Aeroflot management hoped to do without this fee altogether. Until this point, the company compensated for rising fuel costs by increasing first and business class fares, for which, as Mr. Bachurin put it, “there is always effective demand.” However, the dynamics of fuel prices exceeded the expectations of Aeroflot experts, and now all passengers, including modest economy class travelers, will have to pay for this circumstance.
Those who are used to traveling in comfort will enjoy unexperienced pleasures on board Aeroflot in the coming season. The company has decided to move away from the traditional first and business class categories, instead introducing its own service standards that will be better than regular business class (by interspersing elements of first class). On relatively short European routes this standard will be called “Premier”, and its implementation will begin in November 2004. Aeroflot's A-320 family aircraft will be upgraded to Premier as the company receives individual VoD digital video players. These devices, which, as Mr. Bachurin proudly noted, have not yet been mastered by colleagues from leading foreign airlines, will become a key entertainment element for Premier Class passengers.
On Aeroflot long-haul aircraft flying on long routes, from the end of February 2005, the existing first and business class cabins will be rebuilt into the new “president” class. Thus, the key element in ensuring comfort will not be an entertaining device, but rather a calming one - a new “cocoon”-type chair. Mr. Bachurin promised that “Premier” and “President” will be introduced on all Aeroflot aircraft of the corresponding categories by the end of 2005.
As for the geography of flights, in the coming winter season Aeroflot will continue the policy begun several years ago: leaving lightly loaded routes, while simultaneously increasing the frequency of its flights on routes that are in greatest demand. According to Aeroflot Deputy General Director Igor Desyatnichenko, in the coming months the company will fly to 89 destinations in 52 countries. Taking into account other airlines with which Aeroflot has code-share agreements, it will be able to serve 101 destinations. Within Russia, the frequency of flights from Moscow to regional centers: Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa and Volgograd will increase significantly. There will be two to three flights per day to each of these cities. To St. Petersburg, Mr. Desyatnichenko said, Aeroflot wants to increase the frequency of flights to ten per day. True, he plans to reach this figure already in the 2005 summer schedule.
On international routes, the company intends to increase frequencies this winter to Düsseldorf and Istanbul (up to 14 per week), as well as to Prague (up to ten). On some routes, while maintaining existing frequencies, carrying capacity will be increased through the use of more spacious aircraft.
Yesterday, Aeroflot's largest competitor on domestic Russian routes, Siberia Airlines, also announced the introduction of a winter schedule. Compared to last winter, the number of its regular flights will increase by 30%. Basically, the airline's summer route network will be preserved, with the exception of seasonal flights to southern resorts. Flights from Moscow will be operated to 38 destinations (15 foreign), from Novosibirsk to 22 (11 foreign), and from Irkutsk to five destinations (two foreign). In total, according to the winter schedule, it is planned to operate on average more than 250 regular pair flights per week to 64 destinations, of which 30 are international. The winter schedule includes popular tourist routes. These are the ski resorts of Bavaria and the North Caucasus (Munich, Sochi, Minvody, Vladikavkaz), and the warm resorts of Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (Bangkok, Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, Antalya, Dubai). The flight program to Germany includes nine routes from Moscow, Novosibirsk and Omsk. From mid-December to mid-January, additional flights to Germany will be introduced in connection with the Christmas holidays. Mikhail KUKUSHKIN |
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