S7 Airlines and the Oneworld alliance are suspending their relationship.
S7 Airlines issued this short statement:
“Due to the restriction of international flights, the business interaction between S7 Airlines and the Oneworld alliance has been significantly reduced,”
“In this situation, S7 Airlines and Oneworld made a joint decision from April 19, 2022 to suspend the agreement.”
S7 Airlines becomes the second Russian carrier to cancel all international flights effective today.
Like Aeroflot, they are afraid their leased aircraft will be seized overseas and the crews will be stranded.
American Airlines has suspended its interline agreements with Aeroflot Russian Airlines and S7 Airlines.
S7 Group (S7 Airlines) has decided on a name for its new low-cost subsidiary.
Citrus will be launched in July 2022 with a fleet of Airbus A320neo aircraft in central Russia.
Initially four aircraft will be used to start operations.
Previously S7 Airlines made this announcement:
S7 Group, the largest private aviation holding in Russia, has announced its plans to create a new airline that will operate according to the classic low-cost airline model. The ticket sale will begin in the spring of 2022, and the first flights are scheduled for July 2022.
Photo: S7’s Airbus A320neo cabin.
The airline’s fleet will consist entirely of new comfortable Airbus A320neo aircraft. A preliminary agreement on the delivery of the first four liners has already been signed. In the first three years, the airline plans to increase its fleet by 6-8 aircraft annually. It is estimated that in 2024 the low-cost airline’s fleet will have more than 20 aircraft.
The route network of the new airline will focus primarily on direct cross-regional routes in central Russia.
“The creation of a new airline is a logical and consistent step for us. We see great potential in the cross-regional transportation segment which we cannot cover within the current S7 Airlines business model. But a carrier operating according to the low-cost business model can take this market share. If we look at the international experience, we can see that the route network of the European low-cost airlines is distributed between regions. In the Russian market, low-cost air transportation is available mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation also highlighted the necessity to create another low-cost airline in central Russia in order to improve the accessibility of the regions, ” says Tatyana Fileva, a S7 Group shareholder.
“The Ministry of Transport supports the consistent development of the domestic low-cost transportation system. Creating a new low-cost airline will greatly satisfy the population’s demand for low-cost flights in Russia. This task is implemented according to the instruction by the President of the Russian Federation aimed to increase the population’s mobility, ” noted Vitaly Savelyev, the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.
The new low-cost carrier will operate flights on routes that bypass Moscow and Moscow region. This task was set by the President of the Russian Federation in the Decree No. 204 “On National Goals and Strategic Objectives for the Development of the Russian Federation until 2024” dated May 7, 2018. This will allow increasing the volume of regional air transportation as well as help passengers save time and money on flights between the federal subjects of Russia.
At the moment, the new airline’s team is being formed. Among others, it will include professionals from other S7 Group companies who have extensive work experience and will be able to successfully apply it in the new project.
According to current estimates, the passenger flow of the new airline will amount to approximately 1 million passengers in the first year of its operation, and starting from 2024, it is expected to reach 6-7 million passengers.
S7 Airlines aircraft slide show:
From Tass:
Aeroflot, S7 received permits for flights to Germany – Russia – TASS
In other news, on June 1, 2021, Aeroflot’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 airline’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 airport’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:
S7 Airlines will operate weekly flights from Moscow to Casablanca (Morocco). Flights will begin operating on April 30, 2021.
From May 9, flights will be operated on Sundays. Departure from Domodedovo airport is at 12:10 p.m., arrival at Casablanca airport is at 03:20 p.m. local time. The return flight departs at 05:20 p.m. and lands in Moscow at 01:10 the next day.
The flights will be operated on modern comfortable Boeing 737-800 airliners designed to carry 168 passengers in economy class and 8 travelers in business class cabins.
S7 Airlines has also started selling tickets for weekly flights from Moscow to the cities of Italy (Bologna), Greece (Iraklion), Germany (Hanover, Cologne), Ireland (Dublin), and Bulgaria (Varna). These flights will be open to those passengers who are allowed to fly under the current restrictions.
The flights are scheduled as follows:
S7 Airlines (a brand of Siberia Airlines, http://www.s7.ru) is a member of the oneworld® global aviation alliance.
Top Copyright Photo: S7 Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 VQ-BGW (msn 43302) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 943925.
S7 Airlines aircraft slide show:
GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) has announced an agreement with S7 Airlines for two 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) aircraft. S7 Cargo, general agent for cargo operations sales of S7 Group, will manage freight services.
S7’s air freight program currently utilizes belly capacity on passenger planes and these narrowbody freighters will mark the inauguration of dedicated air freighters for the Russian-based operator.
GECAS, Boeing’s launch customer for the type, expects the freighters to deliver in November 2020 and January 2021. The aircraft will fly medium and short-haul routes for S7.
“The delivery of our first freighters is a significant milestone in S7 Airlines’ cargo operations. The additional capacity will be used on routes with strong demand and limited capacity of baggage compartments of passenger aircraft. S7 Airlines’ wide route map, our partnership with leading logistics companies and well-developed agent network enable us to carry payload and mail in relatively short time and provide efficient aircraft lading. Thanks to the new freighters, we expect to increase total volume of carried payload and mail by 30%”, said Ilya Yaroslavtsev, CEO of S7 Cargo.
While extending the useful life of the passenger 737-800NG, the 737-800BCF carries more payload – up to 23.9 tonnes (52,800 lbs) – and has longer range – 2,000 nmi (3,750 km) than other standard-body freighters. The 737-800BCF freighter also offers operators newer technology, lower fuel consumption and better reliability than standard-body freighters. It primarily will be used to carry express cargo on domestic / short haul routes.
S7 Airlines has issued this statement (translated from Russian):
Siberia is the birthplace of our airline. We cannot remain aloof from the environmental situation in the region. Forest fires in Siberia have already spread over more than 3 million hectares.
We temporarily return our historical name – “Siberia Airlines” and launch an initiative to replenish forests in Siberia.
Our goal is to raise funds for planting 1,000,000 trees. We will return to the S7 Airlines brand only after the required amount has been collected.
All images by the airline.
SMBC Aviation Capital has announced the delivery of one Airbus A320neo aircraft (msn 8852) equipped with two Pratt&Whitney PW1127G-JM engines to S7 Airlines.
The aircraft and associated engines were delivered while located at the Airbus delivery centre in Hamburg, Germany.
This is the first A320neo aircraft to be delivered to S7 Airlines from an eight aircraft deal.
The second delivery is scheduled for August 2019 while the rest of the aircraft are scheduled for delivery through 2020.