News From CIS and The Middle East

Richard Maslen February 24, 2011

ETIHAD AIRWAYS ADDS FLIGHTS TO BEIJING

United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Etihad Airways is to increase its flights from Abu Dhabi to the Chinese capital Beijing. The carrier will offer a daily schedule from July 2, up from five flights per week, although onward flights to Nagoya in Japan will remain at the original five-times per week. The Middle Eastern airline carried just over 16,000 O&D passengers to Beijing from the UAE in 2010, just 8.5 per cent of the total market and will hope to boost its share with these additional frequencies. Emirates Airline is the leading operator in the market carrying approximately 65,000 O&D passengers on its double daily flights between Dubai and Beijing, one of which is operated using Airbus A380s.

UZBEKISTAN AIRWAYS IMPROVES TASHKENT’S CONNECTIVITY

Uzbekistan Airways is to boost frequencies on a number of routes into Russia from the Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. The carrier will add a second weekly flight to Adler/Sochi, Kaliningrad and Rostov-on-Don as well as a fourth weekly rotation to St Petersburg. Approximately 1.3 million O&D passengers travelled between Uzbekistan and Russia in the year ending December 2010 with a large proportion of business and VFR traffic. The market is currently dominated by Uzbekistan Airways with a 64 per cent share with its nearest rivals last year being Moscovia Airlines and the now defunct Moscow Airways (formerly Atlant-Soyuz Airlines) each with seven per cent share of the traffic. Uzbekistan Airways currently competes with Russian carrier Donavia on the routes to Adler/Sochi and Rostov-on-Don and Pulkovo Airlines to St Petersburg but is the sole operator to Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad from Tashkent.

AIR INDIA EXPRESS INCREASES ABU DHABI LINKS

Air India Express has begun weekly flights from Amritsar and Mangalore to Abu Dhabi. The new flights were inaugurated on February 14 and bring the airline’s weekly schedules to the UAE hub to 32, providing links to seven destinations. The decision to increase frequency came as a response to the growing demand that the market is witnessing for more flights to and from the Indian Subcontinent - during 2010, passenger traffic on the Indian market recorded an increase of 18% over 2009. In the year ending December 2010 approximately 835,000 O&D passengers travelled between India and Abu Dhabi.

DONAVIA ADDS OVERSEAS CONNECTION

Russian carrier Donavia is to launch an Adler/Sochi – Dushanbe route from March 8. The weekly service will be operated using a Boeing 737-500 and will be the second new overseas destination it has launched this year - on January 16 it added a flight from its Rostov-on-Don base to the Ukrainian capital Kiev under a codeshare with Aeroflot Russian Airlines and Aerosvit Airlines. Donavia now offers flights from Adler/Sochi to six destinations and from Rostov-on-Don to 16, including Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports, which it serves almost 50 times every week.

OMAN AIR BOOSTS CAPACITY IN EUROPE AND ASIA

Oman Air’s rebranding and ambitious fleet and network expansion has meant the last year has been the most successful in its history. The airline has reported a 51 per cent increase in revenues compared with the previous year, a 38 per cent rise in passengers and notably an 11 percentage point increase in average load factors. And still it plans to grow…this summer it is to boost weekly capacity to both Milan and Munich by splitting its existing Muscat – Munich – Milan flight to serve both European cities directly. “Oman Air’s business philosophy strives to continuously provide passengers with a niche and luxurious experience, combining innovation and precision to the finest detail, and promising the highest standards of quality to ultimately exceed passenger expectations,” said Abdulrazaq bin Juma Al Raisi, Chief Commercial Officer, Oman Air. “With nine new destinations launched in 2010, Oman Air now flies to 41 major cities, linking Muscat with many leading economic and tourism destinations. Bolstering the bilateral ties between the Sultanate and the international community, Oman Air plans to further expand its fast-growing network and global reach in the coming year.”

ARMAVIA BUILDS YEREVAN’S INTERNATIONAL NETWORK

Armenian national carrier Armavia is to expand its network into Europe and the Indian sub-continent this summer. The airline will launch twice weekly flights to Amritsar, Lyon and Madrid, and three-times weekly services to Lufthansa’s Munich hub. Elsewhere, Armavia will make some capacity adjustments within its network; Bratislava and Venice will be served twice weekly; Kiev three-times weekly; capacity increases will take place to Athens and Dnepropetrovsk with A319s replacing CRJ200s; frequencies to Amsterdam and Berlin Tegel will fall to weekly and flights to Warsaw will be suspended. Armavia will shortly take delivery of the first Sukhoi SSJ100 Superjet and plans to put the aircraft into service on its Yerevan – Moscow route. The airline currently offers daily flights to Domodedovo and twice daily services to Vnukovo.

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