Aeroflot has decided to cancel its third flight from Moscow to New York for the winter. This evening flight departs Moscow at 7:50 PM and returns from New York at 1:05 AM, according to Travel.ru.
For now, the flight cancellation only applies to the winter schedule, from October 28 to March 30. The third flight is expected to be reinstated on March 31. This is likely due to decreased demand on this route due to visa restrictions and the general cooling of relations between Russia and the United States.
In the winter schedule, starting October 28, departures from Moscow (Sheremetyevo Airport) are scheduled at 10:10 and 14:35, arriving in New York (Kennedy Airport) at 13:15 and 18:15, respectively. Return departures are at 15:20 and 20:20, arriving in Moscow at 7:10 and 12:25. In the winter schedule, only the first flight is operated by the larger Boeing 777, while the second flight is operated by an Airbus A330. Until October 27 and from March 31, the Boeing 777 will serve both of these flights.
The third evening flight, which is always operated by an Airbus A330 and is cancelled for the winter, poses a slight problem for onward travel within the US: the next connecting flights are only available the following morning, approximately seven hours after arrival in New York. However, for those who need to fly from New York to Russia (or connect in New York from another flight) late in the evening, this option is convenient—as is for those who want to depart Moscow in the evening and arrive in New York that same evening: there are no other comparable options.
Furthermore, the third flight, which is being cancelled for the winter, is convenient for transit passengers, especially those traveling from the Russian Far East and many Asian countries. By the time the vast majority of Aeroflot flights to these destinations arrive in Moscow, both other New York flights have already departed for the United States, requiring an overnight stay in the Russian capital. An evening flight to New York allows for a same-day connection. The same applies to the return journey: arriving from New York to Moscow late in the day allows for a quick connection to many evening flights to the east from Sheremetyevo, whereas passengers on some routes would otherwise have to wait half a day for such a transfer. Therefore, this transfer option will be unavailable in the winter.
The third flight first appeared on the schedule on June 1, 2017. Initially, it was also listed as a summer flight, but Aeroflot decided to keep it on the schedule for last winter. Demand is obviously lower this year. As a reminder, the American airline Delta also decided not to resume even its summer flights to Moscow from New York this year.
Source: travel.ru
