flydubai is considering opening several new Russian routes. The carrier also expects to deploy its new Boeing 737 Max to Vnukovo in the foreseeable future.
– We have achieved more than a twofold increase in traffic from Russia in 2017, – said flydubai Senior Vice President Jeyhun Efendi. – The number of flights has increased almost two and a half times and now we fly to Russia more than 50 times a week. One of the main reasons was the abolition of pre-arranged visas to the UAE for Russian citizens last year. Independent tourists began to come to us en masse. In addition, we opened three new routes – to Voronezh, Makhachkala and Ufa, as well as a second Moscow line to Sheremetyevo. This year, rapid growth continues in the first months. True, a lot depends on the ruble exchange rate – the latest fluctuations in the exchange rate immediately affected sales. Nevertheless, we hope that the growth will be similar to last year. In total, flydubai grew by 15% to 12 million passengers over the past year, so Russian destinations are among the growth leaders.
– Do you plan to open any more routes to Russia?
- We are always considering new opportunities. There are no specific plans at the moment, but among the possible destinations that we can think about is St. Petersburg, although this route is already served by Emirates. Grozny is asking to open a flight to them - now residents of Chechnya have to fly from Makhachkala or Mineralnye Vody. Perhaps this will be a seasonal route - for example, on different days with Makhachkala, so that residents of both cities have a greater choice of flight days. But I repeat, these are only potential opportunities for now.
– How many cities in Russia can you serve under the intergovernmental agreement?
– The thing is that we and many of the current routes are served under temporary permits, which are extended annually. This has its pros and cons – on the one hand, it is relatively easy to open a route, on the other hand, there is the case of Novosibirsk, when we had to close the line after only a month of flights. However, we did not notice that other carriers had an increase in passenger traffic on this line after that.
– Are you adding flights during the World Cup?
- Yes, we are adding additional flights to six cities in accordance with the match schedule. As a rule, this is a flight on the day before the game and a flight on the day after the game - if they were not in the regular schedule. These will be flights to Rostov, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Kazan, and to Moscow we will have 2-3 flights a day to both Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo. In addition, there will be one-time flights to Volgograd and Sochi, where we do not fly regularly. All these flights are already on sale.
– What is the demand for these flights?
– I wouldn’t call it very big, because many are used to flying via Moscow and have already bought such tickets. And many fans are not just going to one game, but for a week or two – let’s say, they fly to Moscow, then travel around the country, then fly back from Moscow. But there is high demand from Saudi Arabia to the cities where their team will play – that is, to Moscow, Rostov and Volgograd. There is significant demand from South America – these are fans mainly from Argentina and Brazil, who will fly to Dubai on Emirates flights and then go on our flights to various cities in Russia.
– Why did you decide to fly to two Moscow airports and was this decision justified?
- Of course, these are additional costs. Many in our office, not being familiar with Moscow, were skeptical about this decision. But Moscow is a specific city, here many passengers have clear preferences for the departure airport due to large distances and often choose their flights based on this parameter. Vnukovo is good, but Sheremetyevo has long been considered the main international airport. Not flying from Sheremetyevo is the same as not flying from Heathrow in London. In London, many companies also fly from two airports at once, this is a normal solution for megacities. Sheremetyevo is currently developing rapidly, they actively invited us. We also came to Vnukovo when this airport was undergoing a period of qualitative leap.
- And which flight is more popular?
- They sell equally well. Both flights have their own client. Vnukovo has its own niche, and at this airport we are the only ones who fly to Dubai on a regular flight. Last year there were still many charters, but the trend now is towards a flow from charters to regular flights.
– Are you planning to put Boeing 737 Max on the Vnukovo flight?
- Yes, we are planning to - at the end of this year or next year. For now we have six such planes, they fly, in addition to Sheremetyevo, to Prague, Krakow, Belgrade and twice a day to Bucharest and Kyiv. By the end of the year there will be thirteen planes, and around then it will be Vnukovo's turn.
– Has the ticket price changed for Boeing 737 Max flights?
- In economy class - no. But in business class, a flight on the Max is about 30% more expensive, because it is a different product - not reclining seats, but a fully horizontal bed. The Max also has a new advanced entertainment system and larger video screens. By the way, the appearance of the 737 Max has led to some increase in demand on these routes.
– What impact has the expansion of the partnership with Emirates had on flydubai’s Russian passenger traffic?
– It depends greatly on the destination. For example, there is not such a big increase on Moscow flights, since Emirates itself flies to Moscow. But by the way, there is a noticeable flow of Emirates tickets on our Sheremetyevo flights. I cannot call the growth explosive in the regions either, since there is not such a big demand for Emirates long-haul destinations from there. At the same time, we have routes where the majority of passengers fly on Emirates tickets – for example, on flights to Serbia. In general, the picture across the network is as follows – before last year’s codeshare agreement, we had an average of about 500 passengers a day transferring in Dubai to Emirates flights or vice versa. Now, in less than a year of the codeshare agreement, it is already about five thousand a day, that is, such passengers have increased tenfold. The goal is to increase this number to ten thousand.
– Did you decide to come to Sheremetyevo yourself or was it Emirates’ wish?
- This is our decision - although Emirates is really happy that they can now sell tickets from Sheremetyevo. There is a certain coordination of actions - for example, we changed the schedule of our Moscow flights so that it meets both our interests and the requests of Emirates. They can now sell four different departure times from Moscow to Dubai and back - this has allowed them to significantly reduce the connection time in Dubai when transferring to some long-distance destinations.
– Is the selection of new flight cities coordinated?
– Our original strategy has remained the same – we have always mainly gone to cities where there is insufficient passenger traffic for a wide-body aircraft, but enough for our small Boeing 737. For example, Emirates serves the capital Warsaw in Poland, and we fly to the small airport in Krakow. It is the same in other countries: for example, we are now opening flights to Catania, Thessaloniki, Helsinki – not the largest cities where Emirates does not fly. We are planning many new destinations, and these will almost always be niche routes. Emirates and I complement each other well.
– How popular are paid services on Russian flights?
– Onboard Duty Free is in the greatest demand – probably, it is a habit of Russian passengers to buy a lot in Duty Free both at the airport and on the plane. But access to the onboard entertainment system is purchased by only a little more than 10% passengers. Many come with their tablets or laptops and watch what they downloaded at home. But it is true that on Boeing 737 Max they buy a little more – good screens and a better choice of films make a difference.
Source: travel.ru
