Transaero"s flights are moving from Gatwick to Heathrow and increasing in frequency.

Published: 3/28/2000

On 28th March, Transaero will begin flights into terminal two at London's Heathrow airport, making the switch from Gatwick from where it has been operating since December 1998. This is a significant boost for a carrier that is keen to acquire the business market and considerably improves its ability to get passengers' ongoing connections. To start with, there will be four weekly flights to London and starting on 1st June, the airline will begin daily flights between Moscow and London, operating a fleet of Boeing 737s. In a statement, Transaero said that increasing its flights to London from once a week was part of a plan to increase its presence on the international market. Once one of post-Soviet Russia's success stories, Transaero was hard hit by the financial crisis of August 1998, which sharply reduced both passenger and cargo turnover. However, since then, the airline has undergone significant restructuring to cut costs and focus on optimising its business, including tapping new markets such as carrying mail. In October 1999, Alexander Pleshakov, Chairman of Transaero, set out his positive vision of the future for the company, following a reduction of $50m in its debts from pre-crisis levels, although these still remain at some $70m. Within this Transaero-2000 programme, Pleshakov outlined an ambitious schedule of route development, with flight frequency increased in main routes including Moscow-London. It also plans to resurrect routes cancelled after the 1998 crisis. It must be noted however, that in March 1999, Transaero had one of its Boeing 737s impounded at Gatwick airport for failure to pay air traffic control fees to several civil aviation authorities including Canada, Iceland and Denmark as well as the UK's Civil Aviation Authority.

Article ID: 1744