Category Archives: Aeroflot Russian Airlines

Aeroflot and the Russian economy are reeling

Aeroflot Russian Airlines has made this announcement:

Due to the closure of airspace of a number of European countries Aeroflot cancels flights and suspends flights to the following destinations:

  • Ljubljana (Slovenia)ย – until March 26
  • Sofia (Bulgaria)ย – until May 24
  • Bucharest (Romania)ย – until March 26
  • Riga (Latvia) – until March 26
  • Prague (Czech Republic) – until March 26
  • Warsaw (Poland) – until May 25th
  • London* (United Kingdom)ย – until May 23
  • Dublin* (Ireland)ย – until May 23
  • Chisinau (Moldova) – until March 4

Russian airlines are facing stiff air closures for their aircraft heading west.

Why is Aeroflot allowed to fly to the United States?

Meanwhile the Russian economy is reeling. The Rouble is slumping in value.

From the BBC:

“Russia has more than doubled its interest rate to 20% in a bid to halt a slump in the value of its currency.

The Bank of Russia raised the rate from 9.5% after the rouble sank 30% after new Western sanctions. The currency then eased back to stand 20% down.

The collapse in value erodes the currency’s buying power and could wipe out the savings of ordinary Russians.

Amid pictures at the weekend of queues at cash machines, Russia said it had the resources to ride out sanctions.

Ahead of an emergency meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his economic advisers on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “These are heavy sanctions, they’re problematic, but Russia has the necessary potential to compensate the damage from these sanctions.” He said Russia would respond with its own sanctions.”

Read the full article:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60550992

From the Washington Port:

The war in Ukraine isnโ€™t working out the way Russia intended.

https://twitter.com/MaxFosterCNN/status/1498262330970447876

Aeroflot and other Russian airlines are being shut off to its western markets

Aeroflot Russian Airlines and other Russian airlines are going to find it very difficult to fly to western Europe. They are rightly being isolated.

The new number of European countries banning Russian aircraft has grown overnight.

Countries that have either closed or announced they are closing their airspace to Russian aircraft:

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Canada

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

European Union (EU)

Finland

France

Germany

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Malta

Montenegro

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

United States

A total European Union airspace ban is expected later today.

The list grows of countries closing their airspace to Russian aircraft

Countries that have either closed or announced they are closing their airspace to Russian aircraft:

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

Germany

Ireland

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Romania

Slovenia

Sweden

United Kingdom

Live reports from inside Ukraine on the Russian invasion from The Kyiv Independent (in English):

Delta suspends its codeshare agreement with Aeroflot

Delta Air Lines has suspended its codeshare agreement with Aeroflot. Aeroflot and other other Russian businesses are being isolated due to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

โ€œWe have removed our code from Aeroflot-operated services beyond Moscowโ€™s Sheremetyevo Airport and removed Aeroflotโ€™s code from Delta-operated services from Los Angeles and New York-JFK,โ€

OAG: Russia closes its aviation borders: Affected airlines will find alternatives

From OAG:

The Impact on Aeroflot

  • โ€œAeroflot were supposed to operate some 5,500 flights to markets in Europeโ€ฆ with Turkey the main country destination. Based on the current situation, Turkish Airlines have cancelled all flights to Russia until February 27, and we can expect that to be extended into March.โ€
  • โ€œFor Aeroflot the closure of access to European markets is a serious blow but one that had to be expected once events unfolded. The loss of access to hard currencies from countries such as Germany, Italy and Finland will hurt the airline badly.โ€
  • โ€œOverflying Russian airspace is extremely expensive and Aeroflot receive a royalty from the revenue generated, so will lose more income if more countries access to the airspace isย restricted.โ€

    Marginally Longer Flying Times

  • โ€œOAGโ€™s flight status data is currently showing Singapore Airlines SQ317 LHR โ€“ SIN service tracking across Germany on a southerly routing, rather than routing through Russian airspace. The flight is expected to take around ten minutes longer than normal; a nuisance but not a big issue in the scheme of things.โ€


โ€œFor airlines operating to and from North East Asia where Russian airspace has been heavily used, finding alternate routings will be slightly harder, but not impossible given the range of new aircraft types. Some may head further north with a polar routing, whilst some may head south, but either way once again the inconvenience may be offset by reduced en-route chargesโ€

ย ย ย ย ย ย  Potential Positive Outcomes

  • โ€œThose airlines impacted will find solutions, they always do, and in time may find some of those solutions are actually worth continuing with.โ€

Read the full article:

https://www.oag.com/blog/russia-closes-its-aviation-borders-affected-airlines-will-find-alternatives?hsLang=en-gb

Aeroflot is banned from flying in U.K. airspace, British Airways cancels its flights to Moscow

Sanctions continue to be invoked against Russia and Russian companies.

The U.K. has banned Aeroflot and Russian aircraft from their airspace.

In response, Russia has banned British registered aircraft from its airspace.

As a result, British Airways has cancelled its flights to Moscow.

British Airways issued this short statement:

โ€œWe have suspended our flights to Moscow and also the use of Russian airspace, following the confirmation of Russian government restrictionsโ€

A new cold war is descending on Europe.

Aeroflot and S7 Airlines receive permits to fly to Germany, Aeroflot opens an international hub at Krasnoyarsk

Aeroflot Russian Airlines Boeing 737-800 WL VQ-BHR (msn 41230) LHR (SPA). Image: 947987.

From Tass:

Aeroflot, S7 received permits for flights to Germany – Russia – TASS

In other news, on June 1, 2021, Aeroflotโ€™s international hub at Krasnoyarsk D.A. Hvorostovsky International Airport opened.

On June 1, 2021, Aeroflot launched regular flights program to Russian cities from Krasnoyarsk. SU 2878 service from Krasnoyarsk to Blagoveshchensk was the inaugural flight of the program.

Initially, the schedule of direct flights from Krasnoyarsk will include five destinations: Krasnodar, Simferopol, Blagoveshchensk, Sochi, Irkutsk.

New domestic and international destinations will later be added to the airlineโ€™s route network.

More than 100,000 Aeroflot passengers are expected to use the hub in the summer season. Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be based at Krasnoyarsk Airport. Krasnoyarsk airportโ€™s terminal complex is designed to serve 1300 departing passengers per hour.

Top Copyright Photo: Aeroflot Russian Airlines Boeing 737-800 WL VQ-BHR (msn 41230) LHR (SPA). Image: 947987.

Aeroflot aircraft slide show:

CDB Aviation begins deliveries of four Airbus A320neo family aircraft to Aeroflot

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Limited, announced that the company delivered the first of four Airbus A320neo family aircraft on long-term lease to Russiaโ€™s flagship airline, Aeroflot.

Aeroflot took delivery of the first aircraft, a new A320neo, on May 14 at Airbusโ€™ delivery center in Toulouse, France. The remaining three deliveries include two additional A320neos and one A321neo, which will be received by the carrier later in May.

 

Aeroflot updates its strategy to 2028, Aurora to be sold

Aeroflot has issued this statement:

The Board of Directors of PJSC Aeroflot held a meeting on July 16 at which Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev presented an updated Aeroflot Group strategy for the period through 2028.

Under the updated strategy the Group will target 130 million passengers in 2028. The Groupโ€™s fleet is expected to reach 600 aircraft, of which 235 will be Russian-built.

The Strategy also calls for additional differentiation among the Groupโ€™s airlines in terms of their individual priorities and operating models.Aeroflot will focus on developing long-haul operations.

Pobeda will focus on budget travel and will aim to carry 55-65 million passengers in 2028. Further development of the Groupโ€™s low-cost carrier will help significantly reduce average ticket prices for economy-class travel and increase air transport accessibility in Russia.

Meanwhile, Rossiya ย will focus on the Russian domestic market, including flat fares on socially important routes, as well as on operating Russian-built aircraft.

Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev said:

โ€œKey aspects of the updated strategy were developed at the end of 2019. Recent developments caused by the coronavirus pandemic showed us that we are on the right track. The updated strategy will make air travel more affordable and increase mobility, providing additional support for Aeroflot Groupโ€™s future growth.

โ€œThe strategy through 2028 is called 30/30, as it calls for an increase in passenger traffic by 30 million, and a decrease in the average fares for economy-class passengersย in Russiaย by 30%. It is an ambitious goal, but I believe that we can achieve it and put Aeroflot Group among the 10 largest global aviation groups.โ€

Note: Aeroflot Group will sell its 51% share of Aurora to the minority owner.

Aeroflot aircraft photo gallery:

Aeroflot slide show:

https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=x4M66Z&speed=3&transition=fade&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=0&playButton=0&randomize=0&transitionSpeed=2

Aeroflot repatriates more than 43,000 Russians

Aeroflot Russian Airlines made this announcement:

Between March 14 and March 23 Aeroflot repatriated 43,555 Russian citizens from destinations served by the airlineโ€™s route network. The most passengers were repatriated from Berlin (3,260),ย Paris (3,152),ย Pragueย (3,031),ย Budapestย (2,938),ย Amsterdam (2,175),ย Barcelonaย (1,833),ย Brusselsย (1,811)ย and Viennaย (1,745).

According toย data from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, over the last week Russian airlines repatriated 19,942 Russian citizens from countries worst affected by the epidemiological situation including Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia and Spain.

Special evacuation flights are continuing to operate.

Aeroflot aircraft photo gallery: