S7 in talks to join oneworld

[Keith T 2]

Uhh - has anyone flown them before? Somehow I'm not that excited, unless this also turns out to be an 'unexpectedly good airline' shocker like Malev.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=con...id=aurqSLg80ah0

 

Russia's S7 Says It's in Talks to Join Oneworld Airline Group

 

By Lyubov Pronina

 

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- S7, Russia's second-largest carrier, said it's in talks to join the Oneworld alliance led by British Airways Plc so that it can offer better international connections to customers.

 

The airline is discussing Oneworld membership with British Airways, Europe's third-largest airline, the Novosibirsk-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.

 

``S7 is the largest carrier on Russian domestic routes and is interesting for international airlines as a partner,'' Yulia Nemtsova, a spokeswoman for the airline, said in a telephone interview today.

 

S7, the first customer in Russia for Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner jets, flew 4.9 million passengers last year and 906,000 passengers in the first quarter, or 8 percent more than a year earlier.

 

OAO Aeroflot, eastern Europe's largest carrier, last year joined the SkyTeam alliance of Air France-KLM Group and Delta Air Lines Inc. Airline alliances allow members to book passengers on each other's flight, extending their route networks.

[Pieter C. 5]

Some other Alliance news (another Star Alliance airline to move from SVO to DME ):

 

LH teams with AiRUnion; switching Moscow flights to DME

 

Thursday July 12, 2007

Lufthansa yesterday signed an MOU with Moscow Domodedovo operator East Line Group to transfer its 61 weekly flights to the Russian capital to DME from Sheremetyevo beginning with the summer 2008 schedule.

 

LH is the largest foreign airline at SVO but next year will head south to DME, where it will become the airport's seventh Star Alliance carrier. LH revealed its interest in a possible switch in March, and the move represents another blow for SVO, which lost Austrian Airlines the prior month.

 

In conjunction with the airport announcement, LH announced a partnership with Russian airline conglomerate AiRUnion under which the companies would start next summer with "the reciprocal sale of tickets" and eventually move into codesharing and linked loyalty programs. AiRUnion struck a similar accord with Austrian when OS switched to DME, which along with its new pact with LH may signal the Russian entity's interest in joining Star. Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht said last December that the group was interested in recruiting a Russian member.

 

LH will join Star partners OS, Swiss International Air Lines, bmi, Spanair, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways at DME. Its current Moscow operation comprises five-times-daily service to Frankfurt, thrice-daily flights to Munich, a daily to Dusseldorf, four-times-weekly flights to Hamburg and a weekly to Berlin that will increase to twice-weekly in September.

 

Domodedovo Director-Business Development and International Relations Daniel Burkard said in Moscow that if SAS Scandinavian Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines--the remaining Star carriers at SVO--switch to DME, "and if Star Alliance wishes to do so, we can offer them a dedicated terminal. Our new Terminal 2 will go into operation by 2010." The facility will be designed to connect passengers within 25 min., he said, adding that DME has enough capacity to handle the additional LH flights easily.

 

While Aeroflot and its SkyTeam partners account for around 82% of SVO's 12 million annual passengers, DME is handling approximately 16 million per year and is expecting a 20% annual increase, Burkard said.

 

...So, ST to SVO, SA to DME and OW to ???...

[Pieter C. 5]

...So, ST to SVO, SA to DME and OW to ???...

 

DME targets alliances as competition among Moscow airports heats up

 

Friday July 13, 2007

Moscow Domodedovo Director Sergey Rudakov said the airport landscape in the Russian capital, which features three international gateways, is on the verge of significant change.

 

The day after Lufthansa announced it would join six Star Alliance partners by shifting its operations south from Sheremetyevo to DME, Rudakov said in Moscow that DME is working to bring all oneworld airlines to the airport as well. "We believe that is possible," he said. British Airways, Royal Jordanian and Iberia currently operate from DME while Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines and Finnair are at SVO.

 

Rudakov said LH's shift, and its new partnership with AiRUnion, will make it the dominant foreign carrier in Russia and will effect "a big change in Moscow." LH will be DME's 28th foreign airline.

 

He claimed there will be enough business for SVO and Vnukovo as well: "In the next three years, Moscow airports can expect to generate up to 15 million new passengers." Roughly 80% of Russian passengers come from Moscow, he said, and angling for airline alliances and customers wanting to transfer easily will be a key component of future airport competition.

 

Currently, SVO processes around 14 million passengers annually, VKO has 7 million and DME expects 21% year-over-year passenger growth to 18 million. "By 2015 we estimate 40 million passengers. Then we could be one of the top five airports in Europe," he said.

 

The airport has invested $240 million of its own money in improvements over the past three years, but Rudakov said that "to keep our position, we need [third-party] investment." At the same time, he has no interest in investing in other airports. "Why should we spend money in, let's say, Vladivostok, where we can add maybe 100,000 extra passengers, when with same money we can get 2 million more guests at DME," he asked.

 

Part of that investment has gone toward increased cargo handling capacity. DME will build a cargo village and next week will welcome a new twice-weekly Asiana Airlines 747F service from Seoul.