Volga region aviation companies form regional alliance based around Samara

Published: 7/5/1999

The management of a number of aviation companies in the Volga region has decided to create a regional alliance of airports and airlines called the Alliance of Volga Regional Airports Association. The prime mover for the Alliance has been primarily driven by Samara International Airport at Kurumoch , which has also involved its sister airport in Samara, Smyshlyayevsky. The airlines in the Alliance include Saratov Airlines, the Cheboksary aviation unit and Perm Airlines, plus another, as yet unnamed, participant from Nizhni Novgorod. Mr Vyacheslav Chernavin, Director General of Samara International Airport, has been elected as the Chairman of the new entity for one year to supervise the creation of a large regional airline, capable of competing against the national carriers. As he personally holds 13.3% of Samara Airlines' stock, the largest regional carrier, it is interesting that Samara Airlines is not involved in the shaping of the new organisation and actively negotiating merger with Volga Airlines, to establish an even larger regional carrier. The alliance should begin operation in early August 1999, after the final agreements are concluded during July 1999.The first flights of the alliance are due to be between Samara-Kazan, Samara-Saratov, and Samara-Astrakhan. The formation of the alliance comes after a difficult period for the regional airlines. During 1998, Samara International Airport saw significant declines in traffic to 960,000 passengers and lost 14.3m roubles ($0.5m). Airlines operating out of the airport significantly reduced the number of flights, with Samara Airlines alone cutting over 500 flights, following the August 18th 1998 crisis.

Article ID: 657