Aeroflot grows as independent airlines are swallowed up

The Russian Government has announced a change in strategy involving a significantly enlarged Aeroflot  taking over six smaller Russian airlines. This decision reverses the decision to create a new state-controlled airline from these smaller carrriers. The new enlarged Aeroflot will approximately carry double its existing traffic and the move sees the end of the plan to create a second Russian carrier which was to be called Rosavia.

The six airlines to be swallowed by Aeroflot are GTK Rossiya, Kavminvodyavia (KMV), Orenburg Airlines (Orenair), Saratov Airlines (SarAvia), Sakhalin Airways (SAT) and Vladivostok Airlines (Vladavia).   In 2009 Aeroflot carried 8.756 million passengers, while the second largest carrier, Transaero, carried 5.026 million.

Enlarged Aeroflot will eventually cover all of Russia from three hubs — Pulkovo in St. Petersburg (home for GTK Rossiya), Sheremetyevo in Moscow (Aeroflot base) and Vladivostok (base airport for VladAvia).

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