Restructuring of regional airlines drags along (220 words)

Published: 8/15/2000

It seems that the planned restructuring of the aviation sector by the Irkutsk regional government announced in February and based around the merger of the local carriers into a single unitary enterprise may be toiling despite the enthusiasm of some of the region's airline managers to get the consolidation underway. Alexey Kulikov, General Director of Sayany Airlines, which carried under 3000 passengers last year, says that in his view the two of the regional airlines Sayany and Baikal, the largest of the region's carriers, should consider 'joint use' of their aviation fleets in order to preserve the aviation in Siberia. Sayany has resumed its flights from Eastern Siberia with a six times a week flight from Irkutsk - Moscow, with a ticketing structure that offers cheap flights on Sunday and Tuesday. The fare of around $100 however, which is matched only by Chelyabinsk Airlines, suggests that the loss-making airline is selling at below its operating costs on the two days in question, but believes that better capacity utilisation will make the route profitable in the longer term. In the second half of 2000, the airline is expecting to reach revenues of 26m rubles and plans to add additional flight to Moscow from Ulan Ude and Bratsk.

Article ID: 1999