Sheremetyevo authorities unresponsive says airline (930 words)

Published: 7/13/2001

Talking about his airline's move to Domodedovo Airport on the 28th of October 2001, Albrecht Markus, General Manager of Swissair and Sabena in Russia, commented that the move had been prompted by the quality of facilities at the airport and the fact that despite it being 10kms further away from the city centre. The availability of transport links directly into Moscow's Paveltsky Railway Station in the centre of the city and less congested roads to the city made it a more attractive option. According to Markus the levels of traffic at Sheremetyevo were also constraining the Qualiflyer Group of airlines from optimizing timetables. Citing that a requirement to change the departure time of the Brussels flight by only 10 could not be achieved because of congestion, where as Domodedovo provided the slot. Passenger fees are also expected to be lower at Domodedovo Airport. According to Sergey Rudakov, the General Director of Domodedovo Airport, the airports charges are 25-35% lower than those of Sheremetyevo. Markus however, stated that the lower fees were not primary reason for the move. More important was getting the schedule they wanted and improving passengers services. Swissair will be operating 2 daily flights to Zurich from Domodedovo and one daily flight to Geneva. Sabena will be operating one daily flight to Brussels with the possibility of increasing frequency. The time of departure would change for flights to Zurich, Geneva and Brussels according to Markus. The airport also offers according to Markus, easy to transfer from domestic/CIS flights to international flights in Domodedovo because the halls are in the same terminal in contrast to Sheremetyevo, with the customs and immigration formalities for transit passengers done in the transit area. The ease of transfer according to Markus could also potentially open up greater opportunities to cooperate with domestic carriers using the airport and they are considering potential discussions concerning pro-rate agreements and interline agreements with local carriers to allow passengers from The Qualiflyer Group can go from say Krasnoyarsk to Geneva via Moscow. Markus said that they haven't calculated how much the transfer will cost them but he said it will be approximately $400,000-$500,000. Transaero reported that it spent around $1 m to move its operations from Sheremetyevo to Domodedovo, but Markus said they would definitely spend less as they have fewer operations in Moscow than Transaero. The Qualiflyer flights from the airport will be handled through a row of dedicated check-in counters and an airport ticketing office in the departure hall that will be manned by East Line Group staff under Qualiflyer supervision. Premium class passengers will also have access to a dedicated departure lounge that will open soon according to Markus The lack of cargo forwarders at Domodedovo could cause Qualiflyer some problems according to Markus as the airport has less cargo than Sheremetyevo, but they plan to deliver cargo from Sheremetyevo to Domodedovo by trucks. While Rudakov believes that it will be less of a problem as forwarders start moving to the airport and he says he has already signs that this will be the case. In 2000 Swissair and Sabena carried around 240,000 passengers between Belgium and Switzerland and Russia. He said that Sabena carried 42,000 passengers (26% increase over 1999) while Swissair carried almost 192,000 passengers between Russia and Switzerland (18% up comparing to 1999). The airline's forecast is looking for an increase of 5% a year regardless the airport. A forecast supported by the preliminary results of the first 6 months of 2001 that showed stable growth of the passengers up by 4% for Swissair and 5% for Sabena. Despite the fact that Aeroflot increased the frequencies to Zurich, Geneva and Brussels and is now operating a daily flight to each of these destinations compared to 3 per week last year. Commenting on the growth prospects for the airport Rudakov said that East Line Group, the operator of Domodedovo Airport, main goal of Domodedovo is to provide high quality service and not boost passengers at the expense of service. The airport is however, experiencing strong growth, with the airport servicing 60% more passengers in June 2001 than in June 2000 while the trend among all Moscow airports was an increase of only 18%. He said that numbers for the first half 2001 have not been calculated, but he expects growth will be higher than that of the sector in Moscow. Rudakov said they are continuing to improve passenger services and by the end of October there will be a railway station in Domodedovo Airport under the roof of the terminal. Once it is completed passengers will be able to check in at Paveletsky Railway Station. Rudakov said they are aware that Sheremetyevo and Moscow Government have a plan to have a railway station in Sheremetyevo Airport, but commented, “We don't plan, we do” and views the possibility of the link being built as a distant possibility. Commenting on Shermeteyevo, Markus said that the Qualiflyer Group airlines had complained several times to the airport authorities at Sheremetyevo about the quality of service, but the management appeared unconcerned whether they stayed or went and made no effort to dissuade them from the move. Markus added that LOT Polish Airlines, as a member of The Qualiflyer Group, also planned to move with them, but is unable to do so in the short term due to the terms of the bilateral agreement between Poland and Russia. He did however add that they were working to resolve the problem.

Article ID: 2645