News From CIS and The Middle East

Richard Maslen April 07, 2011

LOT TO TEMPORARILY CUT MIDDLE EAST FLIGHTS

LOT Polish Airlines has confirmed that it will temporarily suspend services to three Middle Eastern destinations during May and June due to “lower levels of passenger interest” amid “the unstable social-political situations in the region.” The carrier will suspend flights from Warsaw to Beirut between May 7 and June 22; to Cairo between May 2 and June 29 and to Damascus between May 9 and June 19. LOT says traffic has been particularly disrupted to Cairo as “limitations on air operations during night time hours has made it impossible to carry out flights to the Egyptian capital according to schedule”.

SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES ADDS CAIRO LINK FROM ABHA

Saudi Arabian Airlines has resumed flights from the southwestern city of Abha to Cairo, its fifth route to the Egyptian capital. The three times weekly link is being operated by an Airbus A320. The carrier already has flights to Cairo from Dammam, Jeddah, Medina and Riyadh, with a total of 58 frequencies per week. Approximately 3.3 million O&D passengers travelled between Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the past year with around 24,000 O&D flying directly between Abha and Cairo. Abha is the capital of the Asir province and is situated at 7,200ft (2,200m) above sea level in the fertile mountains of south-western Saudi Arabia near the National Park of Asir. Its mild climate makes it a popular tourist destination for Saudis. The Saudi Government is organising events to attract more visitors the region and has installed cable cars in the city and surrounding areas so visitors can view the landscape. Saudi Arabian Airlines currently offers almost 150 flights per week from Abha, with links to Dammam, Jeddah, Medina and Riyadh, Sharurah, Taif and Tabuk. Cairo is its sole international destination although overseas airlines flydubai and Felix Airways link the city to Dubai and Aden, respectively.

TURKISH AIRLINES EXPANDS KAZAKHSTAN SCHEDULE

Turkish Airlines (THY) is to boost its network into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) republic of Kazakhstan this summer. From April 14 it will introduce a third weekly rotation from its Istanbul Ataturk base to Astana, while from June 2 a further two weekly flights will be introduced to Almaty. This will bring THY’s total frequencies between the two countries to 12, all of which are scheduled to operate using Boeing 737-800 equipment. Approximately 82,000 and 38,000 O&D passengers flew from Istanbul Ataturk to Almaty and Astana in the past year, respectively, with THY securing 55 per cent and 36 per cent of this traffic. The airline competes with Air Astana on both routes, with the latter offering four flights per week to Almaty and just two to Astana, however, it will also be adding a fifth rotation to Almaty from May 9 and a third to Astana from April 16.

CZECH AIRLINES LAUNCHES BAKU LINK

Czech Airlines is to inaugurate flights to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The weekly service, to be introduced from June 6, will be the airline’s fifth new destination this year. The route is already operated twice weekly by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), but Czech Airlines will have the added bonus of SkyTeam feeder traffic with its own flight. Around 7,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two cities in the past year with AZAL holding a 72 per cent share.

KUBAN AIRLINES TO START KRASNODAR – GYUMRI SERVICE

Russian carrier Kuban Airlines is to launch a twice weekly connection from its Krasnodar base to Gyumri in Armenia. The new service will be launched on a weekly basis from April 28 and will be operated under a codeshare arrangement with Armavia. The second rotation will be introduced from May 24, with both flights scheduled to be operated by Boeing 737. Gyumri is the capital and largest city of the Shirak Province in northwest Armenia and has an economy centred on the construction, tourism and banking sectors, with particular skills in the production of building materials, yarn and textile manufacturing. It is currently linked to three destinations in Russia – Moscow Domodedovo is served by Vim Airlines, Rostov-on-Don by Aeroflot Russian Airlines and Donavia and Adler/Sochi by Donavia. Approximately one milllion O&D passengers travelled between Russia and Armenia in the year ending January 2011, with around 56,000 travelling directly to Gyumri.

AIR INDIA SWITCHES DAMMAM SERVICES TO LOW-COST DIVISION

Air India has this week transfer its own flights from Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram to the Saudi Arabian city of Dammam to its low-cost division Air India Express. From April 5 this routes are being flown using Boeing 737-800s of Air India Express under its ‘IX’ code, although Air India’s own ‘IA’ code will also appear as part of a codeshare arrangement. Air India will continue to serve the Saudi city from Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai. The Kochi – Dammam route was previously served once weekly with an Airbus A310 and twice weekly via Kozhikode using a Boeing 747-400 but will now be flown five times weekly, with a couple of flights routing via Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, Kozhikode – Dammam, previously flown twice weekly, will now be served four times weekly. These flights will be Air India Express’ first into Saudi Arabia, a market of over 3.1 million O&D passengers to/from India in 2010, up from 2.6 million in 2009.

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL OFFERS ITALIAN LINKS FROM IVANO-FRANKOVSK

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) has launched overseas flights from the historic city of Ivano-Frankovsk in southwestern Ukraine. With redevelopment work taking place at Lviv Airport ahead of next year’s European Championship football tournament restricting operations there, UIA is instead offering flights from Ivano-Frankovsk to Milan and Rome this summer. The weekly link to the Italian capital was opened on April 2, while a weekly flight to Milan will operate between May 21 and September 17. Approximately 404,000 O&D passengers travelled between Ukraine and Italy in the past year with UIA transporting 11,500 and 4,500, respectively, on its seasonal links to Rome and Milan from Lviv.

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