Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport experiencing good vacation traffic (350 words)

Published: 8/7/2000

According to Olga Alexandrova of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport the airport are experiencing high traffic volumes with 27,000 passengers passing through the airport in June. She was however, reluctant to comment whether this was an improvement on the same period in 1999, only commenting that it was “high”. Load factors for the airline's using the airport, Vladivostok Air, Domodedovo Airlines, Dalavia, KrasAir and Sakhalin Airlines are reported to be approaching 100% as the island is in full vacation season swing. According to Alexandrova even Domodedovo Airlines' 300-seat Il-96-300 has been flying from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Moscow almost full. The airport's cargo traffic remains muted however, with only 50-70 tonnes per month being handled, although the airport is optimistic about improving traffic through a series of agreements signed recently. The first with KrasAir appointing the airport as the Siberian carrier's agent for the region and according to the airport authorities will considerably simplify the procedures for those customers seeking to use KrasAir services Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Blagovezhensk - Krasnoyarsk - St. Petersburg. The airport has also signed agent agreements with Vladivostok Airlines and Dalavia. In 1999 more than 300,000 passengers passed through the airport, an increase of 5% on 1998. The airport is optimistic about further improvement with the local government funded improvements to the airport terminal and runway, the latter due to be completed in 2001, giving the airport the ability to handle significantly heavier aircraft. The airport services routes of Sakhalin Airlines (SAT), Domodedovo Airlines, Vladivostok Air, Dalavia, Reeve Aleutian Air, Korea's Korean Air and Asiana Airlines; 25% of the state owned airport's flights are international according to General Director Vladimir Bagrov. It is worthwhile noting however, that although seasonal traffic is good, Aeroflot's General Director Okulov at the announcement of the airline's first quarter figures, made it clear that routes to the Russian Far East including Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk were unprofitable for the flag carrier; a view that has been expressed by a number of carriers to the region. Although the lack of profitability for Aeroflot particularly may be more of a reflection of its inappropriate fleet on this long thin route.

Article ID: 1966