News From CIS & Middle East

Richard Maslen February 11, 2011

OMAN AIR ADDS LINK TO KHARTOUM

Muscat-based Oman Air has announced plans to launch flights to the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The carrier will offer a four-times weekly service with a Boeing 737-800 from May 5. This will be the first direct link between the two destinations, an O&D market of approximately 17,000 passengers for the year ending November 2010. Qatar Airways (33 per cent) and Gulf Air (26 per cent) have handled the majority of these passengers via their Doha and Bahrain hubs.

CIS CARRIERS ENTER COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIP

Belarusian national carrier Belavia and Azerbaijan’s Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) have entered into a partnership on flights between the two countries’ capitals Minsk and Baku. With immediate effect the operators’ codes ‘B2’ and ‘J2’ and will appear on all flights between the two cities. At present Belavia offers a twice-weekly link from Minsk International 2 to Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International using Boeing 737-500s, but from the end of March frequencies are expected to be increased to three per week. Approximately 19,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the year ending November 2010.

EL AL SELECTS BOEING 737-900ER TO BOOST ITS RANGE

Israel’s flag carrier El Al has agreed to purchase four Boeing 737-900ERs and placed options for two more as part of the latest stage of its fleet renewal. The aircraft will be delivered from late 2013 to 2016 and will boost El Al’s 737 fleet of the type – currently -700 and -800 variants - to 18 units. According to the carrier, the new jets will replace its 757-200s on regional European flights but will also give it the opportunity to expand its network further from Tel Aviv. The 737-900ER can seat up to 215 passengers in a single-class configuration and has a range of approximately 3,200 nm (5,925 km).

UTAIR INAUGURATES LINK TO TAJIKISTAN

Russian carrier UTair is to launch flights between Moscow Vnukovo and Dushanbe. The airline will become the fourth operator to provide flights between the two capitals, and will compete directly with Yakutia Airlines – Somon Air and Tajik Air also offer flights albeit from Domodedovo. All these services depart Moscow in the late evening or early hours of the morning and travel overnight, as traffic on the route is dominated by migrant workers who are not necessarily time sensitive. UTair will attempt to secure a foothold in the market by providing the earliest departure from Moscow, with its daily service due to leave at 22:05, over an hour before its competitors.

TRANSAERO AND AIRBALTIC LAUNCH CODESHARE PARTNERSHIP

Latvian national carrier airBaltic and Independent Russian carrier Transaero Airlines have entered into a codeshare on flights between Moscow Domodedovo and Riga. Together they operate five flights per day on the route accounting for approximately 20 per cent of the weekly capacity between the cities, with air Baltic and Aeroflot Russian Airlines also offering flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo.

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