Aeroflot Airlines intends to transfer almost all of its fixed-fare flights to its subsidiary Rossiya Airlines. This applies to routes from Moscow to the Far East, as well as to Kaliningrad and Simferopol. They will continue to be served from Sheremetyevo, but now by Rossiya Airlines rather than Aeroflot, reports Travel.ru's own correspondent.
Rossiya Airlines flights to all these destinations from Vnukovo will be suspended on the same date. These changes will take effect on October 28 (for flights from the Far East, on October 29). A temporary exception will be the Moscow-Vladivostok route: Aeroflot's own flights will partially continue on this route, at least until spring. Aeroflot flights to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky will only continue until December 9.
These changes will likely be very disliked by most Aeroflot passengers, for a number of reasons. Firstly, they will lead to a slight price increase: while flights on Rossiya's Far East routes from Vnukovo currently cost 13,200 rubles one-way and 22,000 rubles round-trip, starting October 28, the same flights from Sheremetyevo will cost 15,000 and 25,000 rubles, respectively—the same as Aeroflot's current fares. Thus, the opportunity to save a little by choosing Rossiya will disappear. Business class prices will almost double, from approximately 50,000 to 90,000 rubles one-way.
Secondly, the quality of Rossiya's cabins and service are somewhat inferior to Aeroflot's. They lack a premium economy class, and the number of business class seats is significantly smaller. Finally, Rossiya currently lacks in-flight entertainment systems in all classes—an essential feature for many passengers on long-haul flights.
Finally, at Sheremetyevo, Rossiya will use the older and less convenient Sheremetyevo-3 (D) Terminal. All Aeroflot domestic flights will be operated from the new Sheremetyevo-1 (B) Terminal starting October 28.
Passengers who previously purchased tickets for Aeroflot flights will be reassigned to Rossiya Airlines flights (their schedule generally matches the previously planned Aeroflot flights). Those who are unsatisfied with this change may be able to return their tickets without penalty, but there are now virtually no alternative flights to the Far East, except perhaps with a transfer in Siberia.
Starting October 28, Rossiya Airlines will operate four Boeing 737-800 flights daily from Sheremetyevo to Kaliningrad and Simferopol, following Aeroflot's existing schedule. Three of the four Kaliningrad flights and one of the four Simferopol flights will not have business class. On those flights where business class remains, it will be approximately 20-30% more expensive than on Rossiya Airlines' current flights from Vnukovo.
The Vladivostok route will have a varied schedule, with three different schedule options in use on different days of the week. On Mondays and Tuesdays, a Rossiya Boeing 777 will depart Sheremetyevo at 4:10 PM, while an Aeroflot Airbus A330 will depart at 8:45 PM. On Thursdays and Fridays, both of these flights will be operated by Aeroflot A330s. Finally, on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, there will be three departures: at 4:10 PM and 8:45 PM on Aeroflot A330s, and at 6:50 PM on a Rossiya Boeing 777. There will be three flights back from Vladivostok on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays (Aeroflot at 9:20 and 14:05, Rossiya at 12:00), two Aeroflot flights on Fridays and Saturdays (at 9:20 and 14:05), and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays Rossiya will depart at 9:10 and Aeroflot at 14:05.
Aeroflot will serve the route to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky only until December 9 with an Airbus A330 (departure from Sheremetyevo at 17:00 and back at 13:25). From December 10, the Aeroflot aircraft will be replaced by a Boeing 777 of Rossiya. In addition, additional Rossiya flights also on Boeing 777 will be operated from October 30 only on Tuesdays and Fridays at 19:40 from Sheremetyevo and on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 16:00 from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Starting October 28, only one Rossiya flight, operated by a Boeing 777, will remain on the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk route, following the same Aeroflot schedule. Twelve flights per week are scheduled on the Khabarovsk route. The daily flight departs at 9:50 PM from Sheremetyevo and at 2:40 PM from Khabarovsk, and starting October 28, it will be operated by a Rossiya Boeing 777. The second flight will operate on weekdays only, departing from Moscow at 6:35 PM (and from Tuesday to Saturday from Khabarovsk at 11:20 AM). From October 29 to December 8, it will also be operated by a Boeing 777, and starting December 10, by Rossiya's larger Boeing 747.
Aeroflot Bonus miles will be available for accrual and use on Rossiya Airlines flights. Baggage allowances are also currently identical. It's unclear whether meal options will change compared to Aeroflot flights.
Aeroflot will use the freed-up aircraft to launch new routes. Starting October 28, Aeroflot will launch flights from Moscow on at least ten new routes—to Nalchik, Vladikavkaz, Nazran, Grozny, and Makhachkala. Izhevsk is also expected to be added to its route network. International flights to Dublin, Ljubljana, Gothenburg, Colombo, and Dubai's second airport will also begin on October 28. The company is also considering launching flights to the Dominican Republic, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, as well as Chengdu, China, and resuming flights to Mumbai. Aeroflot will also increase the number of flights to Bangkok and Phuket.
Currently, the Aeroflot Group's monopolization of Far Eastern destinations and the introduction of a dangerous fixed-fare policy have resulted in a sharp (two- to threefold) increase in minimum prices during the low winter season (while simultaneously reducing maximum prices at all times), a chronic shortage of seats during the high summer season and on some winter flights, a several-fold reduction in Aeroflot Bonus mileage accrual, and now a deterioration in on-board service. Just a few years ago, a roundtrip flight to the Far East during the low season could cost less than 10,000 rubles, but now it costs upwards of 25,000. Clearly, the situation will not improve until an independent carrier capable of offering daily flights to the Far East emerges. However, other major Russian airlines have virtually no long-haul fleets and, as far as is known, have no plans to enter this market segment in the coming years.
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Let us recall that soon passengers of all Russian airlines may lose the guarantees of free transportation of briefcases, handbags, backpacks, outerwear, as well as baby food, medicine, canes, crutches and other items necessary for medical reasons. This is the draft order of the Ministry of Transport, prepared after the appeal to the ministry by the airline Pobeda, which demanded that passengers be deprived of all these guarantees. If the draft is approved, carriers will be able to limit passengers to only 5 kilograms of hand luggage, and the permissible dimensions of such luggage will be determined by the airlines themselves (Pobeda itself already uses a tiny “calibrator” measuring 36x30x27 centimeters for this, in which it is impossible to place many ordinary small city bags, as well as some mobile electronics - for example, some laptops).
Source: travel.ru
