The future of civil aviation and tourism was discussed at NAIS 2018

The main event of the aviation industry of Russia, the 5th National Exhibition of Civil Aviation Infrastructure NAIS 2018, ended in Moscow on February 8. Travel Routes Russia session was held as part of the business program with participation of the industry regulators, airlines and business representatives.

Dmitry Gorin, Director General, Vipservice Holding, Transport Adviser to the Head of Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, was the moderator of the session. The keynote of the meeting was the discussion of the quality of charter and scheduled traffic on tour itineraries and the need for close interaction and cooperation between aviation and tourism business. Representative of Rossiya Airlines, AZUR Air, Turkish Airlines, Atlasglobal, representatives of the Milan airport, the Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs of the Russian Federation and private business were among the invited speakers.

As part of the session, the representatives of the airlines shared relevant news. For instance, Sergey Aleksandrovsky, Commercial Director, Rossiya Airlines, in his speech noted that in 2018 the company plans to bring its charter product as close as possible to the scheduled traffic standards. Mefail Deribas, General Representative of Turkish Airlines in Russia, explained that since the summer of 2017 the demand for flights of the airline has returned to the pre-crisis figures: at the last season peak, Turkish Airlines was making 18 daily flights from Vnukovo. In 2018, the carrier plans to maintain and, if possible, excel the successful results of the last year. Ali Murat, Head of a Turkish airline Atlasglobal, shared with Russian colleagues his positive experience of participating in the subsidy program initiated by the Turkish authorities, covering a part of fuel costs of the airlines bringing Russian tourists to the resorts of the country.

Mikhail Kritsky, Director General of the charter airline AZUR Air, commented on the temporary restriction of the validity of the AZUR Air operator certificate, worrying the tourism business. Mr. Kritsky assured that AZUR Air will easily fulfill all requirements, and that the company considers the measures of Rosaviatsia (Federal Air Transport Agency) as a reason for self-improvement.

Concluding the charter topic, Dmitry Gorin shared some good news with airlines: Rosaviatsia decided that since March the permission for charter flights will be approved one month before, rather than two weeks before. "In view of high transportation season coming, it will certainly add some stability to the tourist market. 70% of the tour package is the transportation, and our common success depends on how comfortable and affordable it is," concluded the Head of Vipservice.