January 13, 2019, 11:46 pm / Business

Low-cost airline Pobeda has become the fourth largest air carrier in Russia

At the end of the year, the company overtook Ural Airlines and Utair in passenger transportation. Only other companies of the Aeroflot group and S7 carry more than it. Alexander Vorobyov

“Pobeda” entered the top five / Andrey Gordeev / Vedomosti

Aeroflot . launched its low-cost airline in December 2014, in 2015 Pobeda took 7th place in passenger transportation among Russian airlines, and in 2016 – sixth But Pobeda could not break into the top 5 for a long time - the gap from Ural Airlines and Utair was too great .

This year, the Pobeda fleet has grown by a record eight ships - up to 24 Boeing 737-800. Already in October, the low-cost airline carried more passengers than Utair . And in November it overtook Ural Airlines, according to data from the Federal Air Transport Agency. In December, Pobeda’s advantage grew even more, according to data from these three airlines presented to Vedomosti. More passengers than Pobeda are now carried only by its parent airline Aeroflot , Sibir Airlines (flying under the S7 Airlines brand, part of the S7 Group of the Filevs) and another Aeroflot subsidiary, Rossiya Airlines.

“In January, we plan to transport 712,000 people, however, this figure may change slightly, either up or down,” says a Pobeda representative. Utair plans transportation at the level of January last year (approximately 590,000 people), says a company representative. “We forecast traffic growth in January at 10%,” said First Deputy General Director of Ural Airlines Kirill Skuratov. That works out to about 630,000 passengers.

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Business / Transportation

The fleet of these airlines is significantly larger than that of Pobeda: 47 Airbus 319/320/321 aircraft for Ural Airlines, 50 Boeing 737 plus 15 regional ATR 72 for Utair . But the basis of the latter’s fleet is 32 Boeing 737-500 with a capacity of 116 seats. The Pobeda ships can accommodate 189 people.

Pobeda, due to its short turnaround time at airports and the fact that all its aircraft are new, is one of the world leaders in aircraft flight hours. Its planes spend more time in the air. “Pobeda is the leader in Russia in terms of vessel loading, and the factor that the low-cost airline model involves predominantly short flights also plays a role in high traffic,” says Boris Rybak, CEO of the consulting company Infomost. Over the 11 months of last year, Pobeda’s load rate was 94.4%, while that of other major scheduled airlines ranged from 80 to 87%.

Ural Airlines carries quite a lot of passengers for the benefit of tour operators, so in the high summer season their transportation grows at a faster pace, notes a top manager of the Russian airline. The main growth in traffic this year is planned for the summer: in June the company will begin receiving a batch of four Airbus 320 neo aircraft, Skuratov says.

In 2019, the company plans to transport about 10 million people, says a Pobeda representative. The low-cost airline will increase its fleet by 25% by summer alone, receiving six more Boeing 737-800s, the source explains. And in the fall, the company expects delivery of the first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, an employee of the low-cost airline knows.

Utair plans not to grow, but to update its fleet: a gradual replacement of the Boeing 737-500 with more spacious Boeing 737 MAX-8, Pavel Permyakov, president of Utair - Passenger Airlines, told Vedomosti. In 2019, the company plans to transport 8.9 million people, says a Utair representative.

Skuratov does not disclose Ural Airlines’ forecast for this year.