Rossiya Airlines will begin flying from St. Petersburg to Moscow Domodedovo

Rossiya Airlines (part of the Aeroflot group together with the airline of the same name and the low-cost carrier Pobeda) will launch regular flights from Domodedovo Airport (Moscow) to St. Petersburg from October 29. Aeroflot’s press service reported this on September 26. The carrier will operate two flights per day using Airbus A319 aircraft.

“Thus, the Aeroflot group will operate flights between Moscow and St. Petersburg from three capital airports at once – Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Domodedovo,” the national carrier said in a release.

Currently, Rossiya flights serve Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo. Sheremetyevo is the base airport for all three airlines of the group, Vnukovo is the base airport for Pobeda and Rossiya. The second airline in the country, S7, is based in Domodedovo. Until 2017, Domodedovo was the base for Aeroflot’s main competitor at that time, Transaero, until this carrier went bankrupt.

Airlines usually limit themselves to one airport to reduce service costs. Thus, Moscow S7 flights are served only at Domodedovo, capital UTair flights – only at Vnukovo.

Now S7 operates 4-5 flights a day from Domodedovo to St. Petersburg, and Aeroflot operates more than 10 flights a day from Sheremetyevo to Pulkovo.

Vedomosti’s interlocutor at one of the airports believes that the management of the Aeroflot group is trying in this way to get some of the passengers who are used to flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg via Domodedovo. “We should not forget that Aeroflot faces the task of increasing passenger traffic. This is one way to solve this problem,” he believes.

An interlocutor at Rossiya Airlines says that the point of opening flights to Domodedovo is precisely to cover all three capital airports with the group’s flights.

“Another advantage is the conclusion of a passenger service agreement with Domodedovo. This helps when a plane arriving in Moscow is forced to leave for an alternate airfield (in this case, Domodedovo – Vedomosti) due to weather or other conditions,” added another source at the airline.

Executive Director of Aviaport Oleg Panteleev notes that the Moscow-St. Petersburg direction is one of the significant sources of traffic for Rossiya. He recalls that Rossiya already had experience in operating flights to St. Petersburg from three Moscow airports at once. The size of the metropolitan agglomeration is such that for passengers living on the outskirts or in the region, the difference in travel time to airports can be significant; choosing the nearest one can save a lot of time. Given the short flight, this may be an important factor in the choice, the expert says.

“First of all, Aeroflot Group focuses on its loyal customers, for whom it is important to minimize travel time. For those who need to arrive in the capital on time, Sheremetyevo is more convenient – there are many times more flights there. It is unlikely that it will be possible to take a significant part of passengers from S7 – this company offers more flights from Domodedovo to St. Petersburg [чем будет у «России»] and can offer more convenient departure and arrival times,” explains the expert.