Russian carrier Red Wings is set to launch scheduled domestic flights in Russia having served charter and leisure routes in the past. The airline will today (June 25, 2012) inaugurate weekday flights between Moscow Vnukovo and the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on a seasonal basis, becoming the sixth operator on the route.
The entry into the scheduled market is a marked transition for a company that up until now has focussed its activities in the charter sector. Red Wings was formed from Airlines 400, the commercial operating arm of the Moscow-based aircraft factory VARZ-400. It launched operations in 1999 but adopted its current marketing brand in 2007, later coming under common ownership with German carrier Blue Wings, which closed in January 2010.
The Moscow – Kaliningrad market has grown significantly this the turn of the Millennium when this particular market was at its lowest point in recent years. In 2000 there were just 501 departures on the route offering 33,684 seats. This fell still further to 456 departures and 31,008 seats, but since then the market was in Year-on-Year growth until 2008 when the number of departures hit 3,799 and available seat capacity 490, 018. This dramatic growth coincides with the reorganisation of KD-Avia and an adventurous plan to establish Kaliningrad’s Khrabovo Airport as a hub between Western and Eastern Europe.
KD-Avia was ultimately unsuccessful and suspended operations in 2009. Although flights and capacity subsequently dropped, it did not decline to pre-KD-Avia levels as the airline’s low-cost business model helps stimulate the market and left an inherent demand. Last year there were 3,337 departures, up 9.6 per cent on 2010, while seat capacity was up 5.2 per cent to 435,645.
As mentioned above, Red Wings will become the sixth airline to fly between Moscow and Kaliningrad with 240 flights per month already scheduled. There is an estimated annual demand of 586,000 O&D passengers between Moscow and Kaliningrad with around 335,000 flying between the exclave and Sheremetyevo, 132,000 to/from and Domodedovoand 119,000 in and out of Vnukovo. The annual figure for all three Moscow airports is up slightly less than a third on 2010 at 32.0 per cent.
National carrier Aeroflot Russian Airlines is the dominant airline between the two cities with its flights from Sheremetyevo Airport in the capital accounting for 56.7 per cent of the total monthly capacity of slightly over 30,000 seats in each direction. UTair, which will compete directly with Red Wings, from Vnukovo has a 25.5 per cent share, with Airlines of Kuban (from Vnukovo), AK Bars Aero (from Domodedovo) and S7 Airlines and its sister brand Globus (also from Domodedovo) making up the balance.
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