Pobeda Airlines announced a price increase of 40% (€25) for international flights to Russia. According to airline spokesperson Elena Selivanova, the price increase will take effect on October 28, 2019.
According to her, Pobeda is implementing the decision of the Moscow City On October 8, the court upheld the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office's claim and prohibited the low-cost airline from charging passengers departing from abroad €25 for airport check-in. "In Russia, check-in at the counter is not a separate service, and the fee is included in general airport fees and the ticket price. However, at foreign airports, fees are segregated, and airlines charge passengers for check-in at the counter separately. Each foreign airport sets its own check-in fee, but on average it's around €25," Elena Selivanova said, according to Vedomosti.
She also added that more than 901,000 tourists abroad use online check-in and avoid paying the 25-euro fee. She added that if airlines are prohibited from charging a separate fee for this service, they will be forced to include it in their fares, and then everyone will have to pay for it.
"We are categorically opposed to our clients paying for services they don't use. The court's decision undermines this philosophy. Together with our clients, we overcame the negative impact of rising fuel prices last year and found ways to save money. Unfortunately, we were forced to abandon this global practice and are being forced to increase rates for all clients, even those who register online," Pobeda CEO Andrey Kalmykov explained to the publication.
It's worth noting that the travel service Tutu.ru analyzed all air tickets to Europe issued from Moscow since the beginning of the year. A list of the top 10 most popular Pobeda Airlines destinations (based on the number of tickets sold) was compiled. The average Pobeda ticket price was compared with tickets from other airlines flying to the same destinations. Only direct flights were considered.
As the study showed, the average check for Pobeda was lower than for other airlines.
"Pobeda offers the cheapest tickets to Europe on the Russian market. The price difference is particularly noticeable on routes such as Moscow-Berlin, Moscow-Pisa, and Moscow-Riga. Including the registration fee in the flight price will still allow Pobeda to set lower prices than its competitors (on average)," Tutu.ru explained.
As a reminder, low-cost airline Pobeda introduced paid check-in at international airports on October 28, 2018. As the airline explained at the time, this measure was necessary to avoid increasing ticket prices.
Shortly thereafter, the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit regarding this matter. The court accepted the claim, but on April 25, the Shcherbinsky Court of Moscow ruled against canceling paid check-in for Pobeda Airlines flights at international airports.
We would also like to add that Pobeda Airlines proposed to the Ministry of Transport to introduce a fee for check-in at Russian airports, but was refused.
Source: trn-news.ru