Aeroflot-Donavia comes closer to creation

Published: 3/31/2000

Shareholders of Donavia have approved the creation of the new airline in Rostov on Don from the bankrupt carrier in partnership with Aeroflot. The company"s creditors owed over 200 m rubles have also accepted the deal according to reports. According to the temporary manager of the airline, Alexei Keilin, Aeroflot will take 51% of the new carrier"s stock and will contribute two Tu-154Ms with ten engines to the new airline, which given that Donavia was the 16th largest carrier in Russia last year with 386,000 passengers appears to be a reasonable deal for Aeroflot. The airline saw its passenger numbers slightly rise by 1.5% in 1999 according to the FSVT, which was a marked improvement from the 4.6% decline on 1998 at the ten-month stage, including a decline in international passengers of 27% to 55,200. According to Valery Okulov, the new airline, which will be called Aeroflot-Don, will become a regional hub on a similar model to that of Nizhni Novgorod, where Aeroflot have created a new carrier called Aeroflot-Nizhni Novgorod in partnership with Nizhni Novgorod airport. Donavia has been working closely with the Moscow based carrier for some time, recently regularizing its fares with Aeroflot on the Rostov-on-Don to Moscow route. The original launch date for the airline has however, slipped slightly behind the original timetable of launching in February 2000 stated at the time of the agreement between the two parties in October 1999. Who will manage the new venture appears unclear, but Michael Kritsky, Donavia"s commercial director has been mentioned.

Article ID: 1641