Russia airlines round-up: the World's most stylish cabin crew and more...

                                                                                     Picture: Aeroflot

I already had the chance to mention how much do I like Aeroflot's website design and aircraft livery, now, Skyscanner's users have added another item to add to the list: Aeroflot has the most stylish uniforms in the airline industry...Who would have said just 20 years ago!

And, finally, some good news for Sukhoi's Superjet! Mexican airline Interjet is going ahead with its purchase of 20 Superjets. They will replace A320s on domestic routes. And this happens on the same week Sukhoi is delivering its first Superjet in Indonesia, this honour goes to Sky Aviation...The reverse of the coin, however, is that the $900M. deal in Indonesia with Kartika Airlines is not going to materialize, on this occasion it has actually been Sukhoi that pulled out of the deal because, apparently, the Indonesian airline could not fulfill its financial requirements...

 Some time ago I analyzed why low cost carriers have it so hard in Russia...RBC magazine has also been looking into this matter and published an interesting report (an English summary is available here)...the conclusion: Russia's best chance to get its own low cost airline is...Aeroflot! It actually makes a lot of sense if you see what flag carriers are doing all over Western Europe: Iberia Express (or maybe Vueling instead?), Air France's Hop (I can't resist calling it "Hope") or Lufthansa's Germanwings rebranding...why wait until you are against the wall if you can have first mover advantage and have time to learn the game?

Last but not least, if you are a pilot looking for a new challenge this one is for you: Russia its planning to lift its ban on foreign pilots as a result of a the pilot shortage Russian airlines are currently facing.

Russian airlines round-up (8/2/13): Superjet's reliability, Aeroflot posters and more...

Some interesting news this week about Russia's two main civilian airliner programmes. While Irkut's MS-21 continues to make progress, the first major fuselage section has been assembled, Sukhoi's Superjet is again under suspicion. According to this article (in Russian) Aeroflot is not particularly happy with the Superjet's reliability: this aircraft type makes 8% of Aeroflot's fleet, but is responsible for 40% of technical incidents!

 At least it looks great!

An aircraft the Russian flag carrier can count on from now on is the Boeing 777-300ER, that has finally entered service this week on the route between Moscow (Sheremetyevo) and Bangkok. Aeroflot has finally become the third triple-seven operator in Russia, after Transaero and Orenair, although it does so after a number of administrative issues that have delayed the aircraft's entry into service. Every day of delay causes the airline a loss of $50,000, so now Aeroflot wants to sue the aviation authorities asking for compensation.

By the way, still in relation to Aeroflot: if Aeroflot's 90th anniversary was featured on the latest "Russia airlines round-up", today I could not avoid sharing this collection of downloadable posters about Aeroflot's history that is available on the Russian language version of the airline's website!

Also in the news this week was the liberalisation of air traffic rights between Moscow and the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. An important route in the post-Soviet space that now sees around 14 flights a day, operated by 5 different airlines.

And talking about regulations: a number of incidents sparked by drunken passengers on Russian aircraft have raised concerns about alcohol abuse during flights, to the point that the Russian authorities are considering tightening in-flight alcohol sale regulations, even for duty-free items. As you might imagine, the industry is not too happy about it...

And last but not least...have you seen how Moscow Vnukovo airport new terminal look like? Vnukovo is here. Barcelona, here. Spot the differences!

Russian airlines round-up (2/2/13)

 Aeroflot: a perfectly fit 90-year old

This week marks a remarkable anniversary for Russian airlines: on 9th February 1923 Aeroflot, the former Soviet flag carrier and still the largest airline of Russia, was founded.

Yes! that means the dean of Russian airlines is turning 90!

Although Aeroflot has had its ups and downs, as its history is inevitably linked to that of its country, there are few airlines in the World that have such a long history of continuous operations.

Its image might not have fully recovered yet among the Western public after the chaotic late-Soviet and post-soviet years, when everything seemed to be falling apart...but today's Aeroflot is a totally different beast: new aircraft, levels of service on a par with the major international airlines, membership of Skyteam and even a website with a really cool design and truly innovative user interface!

If you wish to see more of Aeroflot's history, the Huffington Post has posted some very interesting pictures of Aeroflot's 90 years of history!

On unrelated news, a Russian airline that is unlikely to get to 90 is Red Wings, that has just seen its air operator license withdrawn by Russia's aviation regulator, Rosaviatsiya (Росавиация). This measure was already expected and follows the accident of one of Red Wings Tupolev Tu-204 at Vnukovo airport on 29th December. Five crew members died and three others were seriously injured, in addition to another person injured on the ground, when the Tu-204 aircraft hit a motorway just outside the airport perimeter.

For images of the Red Wings Tu-204 accident at Vnukovo airport, see this article on Russian daily Vedomosti.

Red Wings airlines was not a large airline, but was strong on some domestic routes such as that between Vnukovo airport and Makhachkala, in the Republic of Daguestan, in the Caucasus, where it had a 50% market share.

It is also uncertain what is going to happen with Red Wings' fleet of 8 Tu-204 aircraft. Those are among the latest aircraft to have been designed in the Soviet era and it is unlikely they are going to be worth much in the market now that most Russian airlines are opting either for more modern Western aircraft or for new-generation Russian aircraft such as the Superjet and the upcoming MS-21.

And meanwhile, in Russia's Siberian expanses, Yakutia Airlines took delivery of the first Bombardier Q400 airliner that enters service in Russia. The Siberian airline, that has three of the type on order, covers many regional routes in the sparsely populated Republic of Yakutia (also known as the Sakha Republic), the largest of Russia's regions. And in Russia, "large" means really "huge", because at over 3,000,000 Sq Km. Yakutia is more than 12 times the size of the United Kingdom!

New entrant in the wide-body aircraft market?

Interesting news: it looks like China and Russia are set to cooperate in the development of a new wide-body long-range airliner.

 Picture: Wikipedia

The closest thing to such a projected aircraft is possibly the Ilyushin Il-96, that has not enjoyed much commercial success (still operated by Aeroflot though!) and suffered also from reliability problems.

It won't be easy to challenge Airbus and Boeing on this market, but, given enough political and financial support, I guess they will eventually get there...

Airbus and Rolls Royce in pole position to equip Russia's major airlines

It looks like the Airbus A380 had quite a successful first appearance at MAKS, the Moscow Aviation Show, that took place last week. Russia is one of the aviation markets where interesting things are currently happening, not least because of the resurgence of the domestic aircraft industry, lead by its star, the Sukhoi Superjet.

But there are no plans for a competitive very large commercial airplane to be produced in Russia in the foreseeable future at a time when Russians are increasingly traveling abroad, no wonder airlines are looking to upgrade their long-haul, wide-body fleets (it also helps that taxes on >300 seats imported aircraft have been recently abolished).

Whereas Boeing was the manufacturer of choice when Russian carriers first renewed their fleets in the post-Soviet era, Airbus is making important advances into the Russian market. First it was Aeroflot ordering A330s and A350s, now we hear that the Russian flag carrier might be interested in acquiring up to 5 A380s. This would be great news for Airbus, but also for Rolls-Royce, the possible engine supplier of choice with its Trent-900, the engine that powers the majority of A380s flying today (Rolls-Royce Trent-700 was already selected to power Aeroflot's new A330s), not because of the size of the order "per se", but because of what it represents in terms of visibility and its consolidation in the Russian market.



Transaero is another airline said to be interested in the A380. Russia's second largest airline is adding long-haul capacity at a frantic pace, it is adding Boeing 747-400s with high-density configurations (ex-Japan Airlines aircraft fitted with up to 525 seats) as well as former Singapore Airlines Boeing 777s (by the way, also equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent engines). If it is able to fill all these Jumbos, why not go for the A380, then?

Upcoming airline consolidation in Russia

In Soviet times Aeroflot was the biggest airline on Earth, it had the monopoly of air travel in the largest country in the planet. But in 1991 the Soviet Union broke up, economic and political chaos ensued and air traffic plummeted. Aeroflot's transformation mimicked that of its country and the company was broken up with the formation of over 800 independent smaller companies. Some of these became flag carriers of the newly independent republics, whereas in Russia itself, hundreds of regional airlines were carved out of the assets of the former Soviet Aeroflot. The so-called "babyflots" were born. However, Aeroflot did not disappear, it continued to operate international routes out of Moscow, while the "babyflots" served the domestic market.

The decade of the 90s was a time of turmoil in Russia, with weakened institutions and instability and the airline industry also suffered as a result. The "babyflots" were in great measure responsible for the bad reputation acquired by Russian airlines abroad. These undercapitalized companies, operating small fleets of old Soviet-era planes became famous for their dismal service and appalling safety record.

Aeroflot started to put its record straight in the year 2000 and underwent a modernization and much-needed re-branding. A few years later the improvements are evident. Aeroflot is now operating a fleet of modern aircraft, levels of service are now on a par with Western airlines and even its corporate website has a fresh and innovative look. It also helped that the Russian economy has been growing steadily in the last decade, with total passenger numbers in Russia more than doubling in 10 years, from 21 million in 2000, to over 45 million in 2009. Still a fraction of what it was in Soviet times (roughly half the number achieved during the peak year of 1990) but on upward track.

So we have a stronger and more modern Aeroflot in 2010, but...what happened to the “babyflots”?

Financial attrition and safety issues have taken its toll, as I write this post the numbers are down to 168. This is still too many according to the chief executive of Aeroflot, Vitaly Savelyev, that in a recent statement said that the country could do much better with 30 to 35 larger and more financially stable airlines.

The authorities have started to pilot this consolidation process, with Aeroflot becoming the vehicle for the consolidation of the air transport sector in Russia. The Russian flag-carrier is expected to take over a large number of the “babyflots”.
Back to the origins.


Picture: Russian airliners at Domodedovo airport, Moscow. An Orenair Boeing 737 in the foreground whereas a large number of old Soviet aircraft, that used to make up the fleets of Russian domestic airlines, can be seen in the background, among them, in the center of the picture, two Ilyushin Il-62

The first wave of consolidation is already under way, Aeroflot is taking over a group of six airlines: Rossiya, Orenair, KavminVodyAvia, Vladivostok Avia, Saratov Airlines and Sakhalin SAT Airlines. The first step will involve state-owned Rossiya airlines taking over the other five soon-to-merge airlines and then being absorbed itself by Aeroflot. But this might just be the beginning, as we can expect tens of other smaller Russian airlines to be absorbed by Aeroflot in the near future.

This raises some interesting questions about the future of civilian aviation in Russia: what would be the competitive landscape ten years from now?

What would be the role of the main private carriers (namely Transaero and S7) in a market where state-controlled Aeroflot will be acting as a “national-champion”?


An S7 Airbus A320. S7 is currently the airline that carries more passengers domestically in Russia


What would be the implications for the aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus and their chances to capitalize on the emerging Russian market, if a larger Aeroflot became the launchpad for the reemerging Russian civilian industry? Recent decisions regarding the upcoming launch of the Irkut Ms-21 and Sukhoi Superjet 100 point already in this direction.

And what will be the prospect of ever getting a sizable low-cost aviation market in Russia? Some recent upstarts like Sky Express have tried to enter this segment, that remains practically non-existent in Russia. Will the authorities allow low-cost carriers to challenge incumbent airlines in the same way it has been done in the West?

Many questions that I will try to answer in upcoming posts...

Planespotting at Larnaca airport, Cyprus

I recently made a stopover at Larnaca's new airport, in Cyprus. I was positively impressed by the new terminal, that opened recently next to the old Larnaca airport facilities. The airport is currently handling over 5 million passengers a year, and there are plans to expand capacity to 9 million, it is managed by a French-led consortium, Hermes Airports, made up of Bouygues Batiment International (22%) Egis Projects (20%), the Cyprus Trading Corporation (a local retail group-10%), Iacovou Brothers (a local contractor-10%), Hellenic Mining (10%), Vancouver Airport Services (10%), Ireland's Dublin Airport Authority (Aer Rianta International) (10%), Charilaos Apostolides (a local construction company-5%) and Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (3%). This group also manages Cyprus' other airport at Paphos,

Besides its amplitude and luminosity, one of the things I liked is that at the tip of the terminal there is a large glass wall that lets you keep track of all the planes that land and take off. It is not a high-traffic airport but nevertheless you could do some interesting plane-spotting.


A colourful A-320 of Swiss charter company Edelweiss Air, getting ready to return a load of tan Swiss holidaymakers to Zurich




An Aeroflot A-320 arriving from Moscow. Aeroflot serves the large Russian community in Cyprus, which is also an important holiday destination for Russians.


A Eurocypria Boeing 737, see our previous entry on this Cypriot charter company


Aegean A-320 departing for Thessaloniki, Greece


A Cyprus Airways A-330, the company uses these aircraft in its London Heathrow route


A British Airways Boeing 767 departing for London Heathrow. Besides being a former British possession, Cyprus is a traditional holiday destination for British tourists