Airline News
Radical revamp in Russia as carriers merge
September 7th 2015
In the same week Aeroflot and Transaero announced their merger, Russia and the Philippines signed an upgraded air services agreement. As well, Aeroflot and Transaero have both applied for slots between Moscow and Manila. Read More » Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific Air and AirAsia Philippines have signalled they want to start services to Moscow, Khabarovsk and the expanding Vladivostok airport, and could expand to other destinations, including Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. Specifically, PAL said it was looking at flying to Moscow and Khabarovsk up to five times a week from both Manila and Cebu with A330s and A320s. Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines are on the record with an interest in Moscow.
The details of the Russian carriers’ merger are that Moscow Sheremetyevo-based Aeroflot will acquire 75% plus one share of Transaero Airlines for one rouble ($1.53), TASS news agency reported, quoting first deputy prime minister, Igor Shuvalov. “In the interests of the development of commercial aviation and creating one of the largest groups of airlines in the world, the commission has approved the acquisition of JSC Transaero Airlines by Aeroflot Group,” Transaero said in a statement. “The shareholders of Transaero Airlines believe this measure will serve the interests of passengers, personnel and partners of the airline.”
In May, Transaero reported a net loss of 14.5 billion roubles ($255 million) for FY2014, increasing its total liabilities to 67.5 billion roubles. The Kommersant newspaper estimated its total debt burden could be as high as 260 billion roubles. Aeroflot Group last month reported a first-half 2015 net loss of 3.54 billion roubles, up 86% year-on-year.
Two days after the acquisition announcement, Olga Pleshakova resigned as Transaero chief to become chairman of the board. Dmitry Yerzakovich has been appointed her successor.
In late August, Airbus Group postponed the delivery of four-on-order A380s to Transaero Airlines to help the carrier cope with slowing travel demand in its home market as sanctions cripple the Russian economy. “We’re working with them to determine new dates,” Chris Buckley, Airbus’ executive vice-president for customer affairs, told Bloomberg at the Moscow Air Show. “Given the turbulence in the Russian market overall in the last two years, this is no big surprise.” Buckley added Airbus needed to work on getting Transaero to firm the 20 A330 options it signed at the 2014 Farnborough Airshow. The manufacturers bear the brunt of the sanctions against Russia. Aeroflot officially cancelled its order for 22 B787s in June. Aeroflot has 22 A350s on order and sources close to the airline told This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation the carrier is likely to honour the Airbus deal.
Russia’s economic woes aside, Airbus forecast Russia`s commercial fleet to double in size over the next 20 years with over 2,000 aircraft needed by 2034, compared with 922 aircraft in operation today. Airbus said more than 1,280 of these aircraft will be new deliveries.
