Sberbank and VTB will create an airline for regional transportation. The largest Russian banks received the corresponding order from the Russian government back in early 2018, writes the Vedomosti newspaper.
According to a source close to one of the banks, at the moment a business plan for the creation of an airline is being developed. Specialists are also working on determining the appearance of the future carrier and the composition of shareholders. Bain & Company has been brought in to work on the project; by the end of the year, its specialists must analyze which airports the banking airline should cooperate with – unpaved ones for small aircraft or large ones for mainline airliners. Only after this will a network of cities and routes be drawn up where Sberbank and VTB aircraft will fly, and an aircraft fleet will be formed.
According to the source, the new regional carrier intends to transport from 6 to 10 million people per year. Such passenger traffic will allow the airline to enter the top three largest in Russia after the Aeroflot Group (Rossiya, Pobeda, Aurora) and S7 Group (Sibir and Globus). Official representatives of the banks have so far refrained from commenting on this issue.
Let us recall that in 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to develop a strategy for the development of regional and local air transportation until 2030. The strategy provides for a comprehensive solution to issues related to the development of the air transport complex, including the aviation industry, infrastructure, airlines themselves, as well as the training of highly qualified professional personnel.
Source: news.turizm.ru
