Far Eastern carrier takes over from Aeroflot

Published: 3/10/2000

Mavial, the Magadan airline has resumed flights following its recent suspension because of outstanding debts, now has a service from Vladivostok to the US replacing Aeroflot. Mavial now flies from Vladivostok to Anchorage, Alaska, every Friday, offering a one-way ticket for a flat fee of US$ 626. It is currently the only carrier flying directly to the USA from Russia and the CIS, although Vladivostok Avia and Korea Airlines fly via Seoul, and Aeroflot has said it will resume flights to the USA later this spring. Since 1993, when the first international routes opened in Vladivostok, the market has seen a number of changes. The Seattle-based Alaska Airlines started flying in April 1993 in competition with Aeroflot, who dropped its ticket prices to $560 – almost half as much as that charged by Alaska Airlines, who subsequently dropped its price, but was affected by the lack of trade caused by Russia's rouble crises and curtailed its business in September 1998. Aeroflot also stopped flying to Seattle at the end of 1999, leaving would-be passengers to the USA without a direct service. Alaska Airlines' marketing partner, Reeve Aleutian Airways, based in Anchorage, started a service flying from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Anchorage one day a week, charging $1,645 for the round-trip plus 2,500 roubles ($86) to get to the capital of Sakhalin Island from Vladivostok. Vladivostock Avia flies to San Francisco or Los Angeles via Seoul for $1,100, while Korean Airways charge $1,107 for the round-trip to San Francisco/Vladivostok.

Article ID: 1664