Aeroflot airline has decided to cancel the third flight from Moscow to New York for the winter period. This is an evening flight, departing from Moscow at 19.50 and back from New York at 1.05, reports our own correspondent Travel.ru.
So far, the flight cancellation only applies to the winter schedule, from October 28 to March 30. From March 31, the third flight is expected to return to the schedule. The probable reason is the decrease in demand on this route due to visa difficulties and the general cooling of relations between Russia and the United States.
In the winter schedule, from October 28, departures from Moscow (Sheremetyevo Airport) are scheduled at 10:10 and 14:35, arrivals in New York (Kennedy Airport) at 13:15 and 18:15, respectively. Return departures are at 15:20 and 20:20, arrivals in Moscow at 7:10 and 12:25. In the winter schedule, only the first flight is operated by the most capacious Boeing 777, while the second is operated by the Airbus A330. Until October 27 and from March 31, the Boeing 777 will serve both of these flights.
The third evening flight, which is always operated by an Airbus A330 and cancelled for the winter, is somewhat problematic in terms of further flights within the US: the next connecting flights are only possible the next morning – approximately seven hours after arrival in New York. However, for those who need to fly from New York to Russia (or transfer in New York from another flight) late in the evening, this option is convenient – as well as for those who would like to fly from Moscow in the evening and arrive in New York that same evening: there are no other such offers.
In addition, the third flight, which is cancelled for the winter, is convenient for transit passengers, especially those traveling from the Russian Far East and many Asian countries. By the time the vast majority of Aeroflot planes from these destinations arrive in Moscow, both other New York flights have already departed for the United States, and the connection requires an overnight stay in the Russian capital. An evening flight to New York provides a transfer on the same day. The same is true for the return trip: arriving from New York to Moscow at the end of the day allows for a quick transfer to many evening flights to the east from Sheremetyevo, whereas passengers on a number of routes would otherwise have to wait half a day for such a transfer. Thus, this transfer option will not be available in the winter.
The third flight first appeared in the schedule on June 1, 2017. Initially, it was also listed as a summer flight, but Aeroflot considered it possible to leave it in the schedule for the past winter. This year, demand is obviously lower. Let us recall that the American airline Delta also decided not to resume even summer flights to Moscow from New York this year.
Source: travel.ru
