"With our volumes, relying only on third-party airlines is already quite risky. Therefore, we are developing our own project, conducting specific negotiations with several airlines at once, and considering different options. Gradually, perhaps, we will organize our own airline, but this takes quite a lot of time. At the first stage, we are considering bringing aircraft under our flag of existing domestic airlines,” Chavdar Stoyanov, managing director of the joint venture Intourist – Thomas Cook, told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Evgeniya Konkol told the Interfax-Tourism portal that the company had long had the idea of creating its own air transportation. "We have already discussed this with Intourist. This is a step that will greatly help the market. I believe that it would be most profitable for the company to lease the planes and build its work that way," she noted.
Ch. Stoyanov said that the need to organize their own transportation was caused by both the situation on the market and the growth in the number of the company's clients.
"This year, the number of tourists served by Intourist exceeded 1 million people. Despite the increased competition between outbound and domestic tourism, this year we have maximally maintained the volumes on the domestic market, and also increased them in all our main outbound destinations. This includes Turkey, which is actively restoring the tourist flow from Russia, and Bulgaria, Italy, Greece. There are also very good indicators for the reception of foreign citizens in Russia. Having reached the level of 1 million tourists, we understand that we need controlled transportation, and we foresee further consolidation of our business," said Ch. Stoyanov.
He noted that the company has significantly increased its presence in the Turkish market. "Last year, Intourist had about 30% of the market in the province of Dalaman, this year - 51%, that is, almost every second tourist arrives in Dalaman with Intourist vouchers. In Antalya, we started in 2015 with 6%, this year there were already 15%, next year we want to achieve 20%," explained Ch. Stoyanov.
Dmitry Gorin, the adviser to the head of Rostourism on transport, in a conversation with Interfax-Tourism called the tour operator's decision understandable and justified. "The same statement was made recently by TUI. These two tour operators had the most contracts with VIM-Avia. All other large companies, as a rule, either manage their own airline or have an affiliated carrier," the expert noted.
D. Gorin emphasized that the creation of our own controlled transportation is necessary with such tourist flows as Intourist. "The volume of trips that the tour operator serves can be compared with an entire airline. I believe we can start with five planes, and then develop," he said.
According to the expert, after the departure of VIM-Avia, the market should not expect a deficit in air transportation in winter, but it may arise in summer if new capacities do not appear. "All top airlines are now increasing and updating their fleet. But we should not forget that the absence of only three of VIM-Avia's 20 aircraft in June led to widespread delays and cancellations of flights, and now the market will lose all twenty aircraft," the expert emphasized.
Most large travel companies operating in the Russian market have their own or permanent carriers. Thus, the tour operator Pegas Touristik owns its own airline Nordwind Airlines, TEZ Tour works with the affiliated airline iFly, Coral Travel with Royal Flight, Anex Tour with Azur Air. Mouzenidis Travel flies Ellinair aircraft, part of the Mouzenidis Group. Last year, the tour operator Biblio Globus signed an agreement to use 13 aircraft of the airline Rossiya until 2018.
On October 25, VIM-Avia announced the termination of all charter programs due to a lack of working capital and suspension of services at airports. All flights will be completely terminated from October 16. VIM-Avia was one of the ten largest Russian airlines and was one of the most active carriers in the charter market. Experts had previously stated that its departure could lead to a shortage of aircraft for transporting tourists on vacation.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
