News From CIS and The Middle East

Richard Maslen February 03, 2011

AZAL LAUNCHES FLIGHTS TO IZMIR

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) is to launch flights to the Turkish city of Izmir, its third destination in the country. The new route from its base at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport will be inaugurated on March 18 and will operate twice every week. AZAL currently has nine flights per week into Turkey – a daily link to Istanbul and two flights per week to Ankara – and has the second largest share of O&D traffic between the two countries, handling just over 191,000 passengers in the year ending November 2010. Turkish Airlines is the leading operator holding a 51 per cent share of the 495,000 passenger O&D market. AZAL will also launch a weekly Baku - Karlovy Vary schedule from March 27 and a twice-weekly Baku – Amsterdam link from May 24, becoming the sole operator on both routes.

NEW AIR SERVICES AGREEMENT BOOSTS LINKS TO FRANCE

Airlines from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will now be able to offer 60 weekly flights into France after a revision was made to the existing bilateral air services agreement between the two countries. Under the terms of the arrangement Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and now Air Arabia will be permitted to fly more frequently to Paris as well as provincial airports in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse. During the week commencing January 14, there were 43 flights between the two countries offering almost 14,000 seats, with Emirates Airline the market leader providing 54 per cent of the seat capacity with twice-daily flights from Dubai to Paris CDG and a daily link to Nice.

S7 AIRLINES BOOSTS LINKS TO BEIJING FROM RUSSIA’S REGIONS

Oneworld alliance member S7 Airlines is to increase its flights into the Chinese capital Beijing this summer. From the end of March, the Moscow-based carrier will double frequencies from Novosibirsk from three to six per week and boost its Krasnoyarsk schedules from weekly to twice-weekly. From May 18, S7 will add a third weekly service from Irkutsk, while from June 8 a new weekly rotation from Khabarovsk will be launched. The Russian carrier will compete with Hainan Airlines from Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk and Vladivostok Air from Khabarovsk. Approximately 815,000 O&D passengers travelled between Russia and China during the year ending November 2010.

EMIRATES SWITCHES EUROPEAN CAPACITY

Emirates Airline is to switch an Airbus A340-500 currently flying a Dubai - Athens link to operate an expanded schedule on its Dubai - Vienna route. The adjustments, from March 27, will see frequencies to Athens fall to seven a week; while Vienna will now be served eleven times every week rather than its existing daily schedule. The UAE carrier is the sole operator on the Athens link but competes directly with Austrian Airlines to Vienna, where it accounts for 68 per cent of an O&D market of approximately 114,000 passengers.

VLADIVOSTOK AIR REPLACES AIRBUSES WITH TUPOLEVS ON SEOUL LINK

Vladivostok Air will offer a fourth weekly service between Vladivostok and Seoul Incheon this summer - up from three last year - but will use a smaller Tupolev Tu-204 on the route, rather than Airbus A320s. The Russian carrier is in direct competition with Korean Air, which operates a Boeing 737-800 on its five-times weekly service (growing to an up to daily frequency in the summer). Despite offering less capacity than its rival, Vladivostok Air has secured a 44 per cent share of the O&D market for the year ending November 2010, with relatively weak traffic originating in its home market impacting its total figures.

OMAN AIR OPENS MUSCAT – MOSCOW LINK

Oman Air is to launch services to a sixth European destination this summer when it begins a four-times weekly Muscat – Moscow Domodedovo service. The route will be launched from June 9 and adds to its existing flights to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich and Paris. All of these existing flights are operated using Airbus A330-200 and A330-300 widebodies, but Oman Air plans to use a two-class Boeing 737-800 on the flight to the Russian capital. Approximately 3,000 O&D passengers travelled between Muscat and Moscow in the year ending November 2010, with no airline currently offering direct scheduled links between the destinations.

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