Avianova to Launch from Vnukovo Airport

A new low-budget airline said Monday that it hopes to start flying from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport next month, with one-way tickets starting at 250 rubles ($8).

The Avianova airline, owned by Alfa Group's investment arm, A1, and U.S. investment fund Indigo Partners, said it would operate a fleet of Airbus A320 jets on flights to domestic destinations.

"We are planning to fly in the near future, in July," an Avianova spokesman told Interfax. He said the airline could not start ticket sales until it receives an operator's license but was planning to offer fares for 250 rubles and up.

He said more details about the airline and its plans would be unveiled "in a few weeks."

The Federal Air Transportation Agency confirmed that it was considering Avianova's request for a license but did not indicate when the license would be issued, Interfax reported.

Avianova was registered in 2006, and its chief executive, Vladimir Gorbunov, previously worked as a customer support executive for Airbus.

Kommersant reported Monday that Gorbunov was named CEO after the airline's initial candidate, Andrew Pyne, the founding partner and former CEO of the Chinese low-budget airline Viva Macau, was rejected by aviation authorities because of a Russian law that forbids non-Russian citizens from running Russian airlines. An Avianova source told the newspaper that Pyne remained part of the management and would actually run the airline.

Avianova has leased two A320 jets and plans to lease four more later, Kommersant reported.

Avianova would offer competition to Sky Express, the only low-budget airline now operating in Russia.

Source: The Moscow Times