Published: 9/25/1998

On 12 August, the board of directors of Aeroflot -Russian International Airlines (ARIA) discussed the results of the company's activities in the first half of the year. It was revealed that in the period January-July inclusive, Aeroflot carried 2,574 million passengers and 51,200t of cargo, with the respective traffic figures being 9,586 million km-passengers and 1,160 million km-t. In comparison with the same period of the previous year, the rise was 24.2% in the number of passengers carried, 10.2% in the weight of cargo and 19.4% in km-t traffic. In July, Aeroflot flew 4,508 commercial flights, 31% more than in July 1997, carrying 532,900 passengers and 6,700t of cargo, with respective air traffic being 1,873 million km-passengers and 204.6 million km-t. In comparison with the same period in 1997, the number of passengers carried increased by 108,600 (25.6%). In Spring and Summer 1998, the airline took delivery of two Airbus A310s, one Boeing 777-200 and six 737-400s. The arrival of the new aircraft allowed the airline to increase the share of traffic being generated on modern types, (among which Aeroflot counts the A310, 767, B-737, 777 and Il96) from 37.5% in July 1997 up to 43% in July 1998. The most frequently flown type was the 777 with15 hours daily. In July the aircraft amassed 41 hours in six flights to London and 25 to New York, carrying a total of 13,100 passengers and 150t of cargo. The daily utilisation for the 767, A-310 and DC-10 were 11.7, 11.5 and 8.7 hours, respectively. The most modern indigenous type, the Il-96-300, averaged 9.4 flight hours daily per airframe in the inventory and 13.8 per serviceable airplane. The recent deliveries of new western-built airliners allowed the Russian flag-carrier to increase the seat capacity on US routes by 26%, European routes by 13.4%, CIS and Baltic ones by 11.6%. The average increase stood at 22.5%, masking almost a fourfold increase of the seat capacity on inner- Russian flights, which in July accounted for 18.8% of the total traffic. Meanwhile, the company reduced the seat capacity on routes to south-east Asia by 5% and Africa by 11%. Aeroflot claims it achieved a notable rise in commercial efficiency of its North American services by placing state-of-the-art aircraft, improving its tariffs and introducing the Strategy income-management computer system, which, based on mathematics modelling of commercial processes, allows the airlineto make a prognosis on the development of the market situation. As a result of these innovations, the company has managed to increase its passenger turnover by 29%, and income by 25%.Applying the same approaches to the South and Central America, also produced a desired effectthe traffic and income rose by 20% and 17.3%, respectively.(AL998.2) (VK)  

Article ID: 280