Nordwind Airlines has halved the frequency of flights from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don. The reduction took place at the end of November.
The company's flight frequency on this route has been reduced from two to one flight per day. Since the end of November, on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, only an evening flight in both directions is operated (departure at 16:30 Moscow time, at 19:30 from Rostov-on-Don), on other days of the week - a morning flight (at 8:05 from Moscow, at 11:15 from Rostov-on-Don). The reduction was made for the entire depth of ticket sales until the end of March, Aviablogger.com reports.
“On December 7, all airlines will transfer their flights to a new airport in Rostov-on-Don. Perhaps this is the reason why we are seeing a decline in passenger traffic on this route. As a result, we have decided to leave one daily flight and monitor the further development of the situation. We are ready to increase the number of flights if the market requires it,” Nordwind Airlines told Aviablogger.com.
The reduction of Nordwind flights is one of the first indicators of doubts that passengers on the Rostov route have about the prospects of flights from the new airport. Nordwind sells some of the most affordable tickets on the Rostov route, and its passengers are probably not thrilled at the prospect of paying a taxi to the new airport that is comparable to the price of a flight. Let us recall that the situation with public transport to the new airport, even from Rostov-on-Don itself, remains largely unclear just two days before the launch, and no transport has been scheduled at all from the cities of the region and neighboring regions.
It is possible that the uncertainty about the launch date of the new airport, which lasted for some time (let us recall that it will eventually open for regular flights on December 7), could have also had an impact on the demand. In these conditions, many passengers could have given preference to the numerous ground modes of travel on the Moscow-Rostov-on-Don route, between which approximately one and a half dozen trains and a comparable number of buses run daily.
Another factor that influenced the cancellation of half of Nordwind flights could be the cost of servicing at the new airport for airlines, which in some respects has increased 2-4 times compared to the current airport in Rostov-on-Don. A report from the terminal of the new airport and a photo gallery can be viewed here.
Source: travel.ru