Translated material
Second in everything
Transaero opened Beijing
Transaero Airlines announced yesterday that it will open a new Moscow-Beijing flight starting in June. On this route it will have to compete with Aeroflot, which is still the main Russian air carrier to China. In the upcoming struggle for passengers, Transaero has relied on more spacious aircraft and relatively low prices.The specificity of the Chinese aviation market is that more than half of domestic air traffic in this country occurs in just three cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and these same three megacities attract the lion's share of flights from abroad. From Moscow, Aeroflot flies to all these points (it does not land directly in Guangzhou, but operates flights to Hong Kong, which, along with Guangzhou, is part of the economic region known in China as the “Mouth of the Pearl River”).
Transaero still served minor routes from Russia to China. The company now operates as a regular carrier to the southern Chinese resort island of Hainan. Several years ago, she opened in Urumqi in the northeast of China, but this route did not justify itself commercially and was closed.
Yesterday it was announced that from June 4, Transaero will fly to Beijing twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Introducing the new project, Transaero General Director Olga Pleshakova emphasized that the company she heads is the second largest in Russia, as well as the second largest international air carrier in our country (Aeroflot ranks first in both ratings). On the route to the Chinese capital, Transaero thus intends to take its usual second position, after the same Aeroflot. When asked by Vremya Novostei how justified such an attempt to enter a market already occupied by a powerful competitor is, Sergei Bykhal, director of Transaero's public relations department, replied that, from the point of view of the airline's experts, this market still offers attractive commercial opportunities.
Transaero intends to exploit these opportunities using two tools: high-class service and relatively low prices. It will fly to Beijing from Moscow Domodedovo Airport on Boeing 747-400 aircraft designed for 352 passengers. These airliners, more spacious than those that Aeroflot uses on this route, make it possible to simultaneously provide comfort to passengers and reduce unit transport costs per passenger seat.
Aeroflot yesterday published a statement in which, without mentioning the Beijing undertaking, Transaero said that it has no plans to change the price of its tickets to Beijing in the near future. “The levels of tariffs that form the cost of an air ticket on the Moscow-Beijing-Moscow route have remained unchanged since the fall of 2009. The cost of an air ticket is determined on the basis of current air transportation tariffs,” says the press service of Aeroflot.
When booking online, Transaero's minimum advertised fares are $200 cheaper than competing Aeroflot fares. Let's say, Transaero offers to fly from Moscow to Beijing on June 4 (the day the new Chinese program starts) and return back a week later for 23,338 rubles. (with all fees), and Aeroflot - for 29,580 rubles. Of course, both companies have more expensive tariffs in stock.
On the route to Beijing, Transaero plans to have, in addition to tourist, two more classes of service: Imperial and premium economy (corresponding to business class).