Nordavia reports 41% traffic growth

Russian regional airline has taken over routes formerly operated by its sister airline Red Wings, after the latter parted with its SSJ 100s (Photo by Nordavia)

Arkangelsk-based regional airline Nordavia, which has recently become part of Sky Invest Holding, has reported a 41% traffic increase in July compared to the same month last year. The airline served 142,000 passengers, a striking contrast with its May results – 55,900 passengers served, down 7% year-on-year.

The airline’s traffic growth may be explained by the redistribution of routes within Sky Invest, which also owns a stake in the airline Red Wings. Nordavia has taken over 12 routes formerly operated by its sister airline. This happened after Red Wings stopped operating Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ 100) aircraft. Five aircraft of the type each fitted with 93 seats left the operator’s fleet, which radically reduced the carrier’s capacity during the high season.

Nordavia now operates more routes from Moscow, including flights to Kaliningrad, Grozny, Makhachkala, and very popular holiday destinations Sochi and Simferopol.

Red Wings in the meantime continues to operate its 210-seat Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft on routes that require more capacity than Nordavia’s 135-seat Boeing 737-500s can provide.

In July, Nordavia completed reconfiguration of the cabins on its nine 737s from double-class into single-class, more fit for the low-cost segment, which the airline is now targeting. The carrier reported an increase of its load factor as a result of the move, noting it contributed to the traffic growth.

Other contributing factors include more intense flight schedule (reportedly, an increase of 30%) and strengthening of positions at Domodedovo airport through partnerships with Red Wings and S7 Airlines (both fly from Domodedovo).

In the first half of this year, Nordavia carried 324,700 passengers, up from 308,300 for the same period last year. The carrier occupies 18^th place in the Russian airlines’ traffic rating. It operates from its base airport in Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg and Moscow and specializes on connecting cities in the north of Russia with direct routes.