News From CIS and The Middle East

Richard Maslen March 17, 2011

NASAIR EXPANDS INTO TURKEY

Saudi Arabian low-cost carrier Nasair has launched services to Turkey and plans to expand its schedule in the coming months. According to a company executive, flights have already been inaugurated to Adana, Hatay and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen with additional services to Antalya expected to follow. The links will accommodate the growth in demand from Turkish expats living and working in Saudi Arabia, as well as the more than half a million pilgrims who travel to Saudi Arabia each year from Turkey. They will be operated by Embraer 190 regional jets. Approximately 296,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two countries last year on scheduled services with flag carriers Turkish Airlines (THY) (75.4 per cent) and Saudi Arabian Airlines (21.7 per cent) dominating the market. This summer THY and Saudia will both offer flights from Istanbul Ataturk to Jeddah, Madinah and Riydah. The new Nasair flights will open up direct links into Saudi Arabia from regional destinations in Turkey as well as from Sabiha Gokcen on the Asian side of Istanbul. “The Turkish air travel market is one of the largest in the region and to better service travellers between the two countries we have introduced four direct flights between Jeddah and Istanbul each week, three weekly direct flights between Jeddah and Adana as well as twice weekly direct services between Antalya and Jeddah and Antalya and Riyadh,” said Turki Al Jawini, Director of Sales, Nasair. The Saudi Arabian carrier now serves six domestic and 21 international markets and is set to announce the next stage of its expansion in the coming month.

IRAN AIR CONSOLIDATES ITALIAN NETWORK

Iran Air is set to consolidate its activities in the Italian market this summer reducing its services to just a single weekly rotation. The carrier currently offers a weekly link from Tehran to both Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino but from March 27 will serve both cities on the same flight routing Tehran – Milan – Rome – Milan – Tehran. Approximately 70,000 O&D passengers travelled between Iran and Italy in 2010 with 9,900 flying on the Iran Air route to Milan and 9,800 on its service to Rome.

AIR INDIA MODIFIES DAMMAM SCHEDULES

Air India is to increase frequencies to the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Dammam from March 27 increasing capacity on each flight from Delhi and Mumbai despite replacing a widebodied Airbus A310 with a smaller A320. The carrier had served each route twice weekly but will now fly four-times per week to Delhi and three-times to Mumbai. These changes will see a 44 per cent rise in capacity from Delhi and an eight per cent increase from Mumbai as a result of the A310s being withdrawn from the routes. These were configured with 201 seats, including a 20-seat Executive Class cabin with a 47in (119cm) pitch. Air India is the market leader between Dammam and Delhi with a 30 per cent share of the 112,000 O&D passengers, but holds just a 21 per cent share of the 142,000 passengers between the Saudi Arabian city and Mumbai.

AEROFLOT INCREASES CAPACITY AHEAD OF OLYMPICS AND WORLD CUP

Aeroflot Russian Airlines has signed a firm order for eight Boeing 777s, comprising two 777-200ERs and six larger 777-300ERs. These will be delivered between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2016 and will be used to boost the carrier’s international network in co-operation with its SkyTeam alliance partners. According to Vitaly Savelyev, General Director, Aeroflot, the new aircraft will be used on a mix of existing routes and new connections “in particular for flights to Cancun, Sanya, Ho Chi Minh City, Guangzhou, Mumbai, Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, San Francisco and Singapore”. They will also provide additional capacity to handle the growing numbers of passengers travelling into Russia, particularly during the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi and the 2018 FIFA Football World Cup. According to local newspaper reports, Aeroflot secured a bit of deal with Boeing for the aircraft. The US manufacturer claims the order is worth $2.168 billion at list prices, but the Russian carrier claims it only paid $1.156 billion for the jets, a remarkable 47 per cent discount. The attractive terms, if true, are likely to be as a result of delays to the delivery of the airline’s 787 Dreamliners or as part of a wider deal that could see additional orders announced in the future.

KYRGYZSTAN AIRLINES TO INAUGURATE ISTANBUL LINK

Kyrgyzstan Airlines has announced the launch of flights between Bishkek and Istanbul suggesting that plans to establish a joint venture with Pegasus Airlines under the Kyrgyz Pegasus Airlines brand may have been dropped. The joint venture was expected to launch operations last year providing links between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan and onward to destinations within Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but no further information has been released by either company. The new link from Manas International Airport is due to be launched on March 16 and will be operated by an Airbus A320 twice every week. Turkish Airlines already provides a daily service on the route using a Boeing 737-800 and carried over 49,000 O&D passengers in the year ending December 2010.

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