Russia’s S7 Airlines has unveiled bullish plans to resume fights across its entire domestic network in June, as well as launching five new routes in the coming weeks.
This week: Malindo Air is to begin a new service to India; Flydubai expands presence in Russia; Air Canada rouge to introduce Caribbean service from Routes Americas 2019 host.
A mix of existing and new airline partners officially signed-up to serve the fast-expanding Chinese gateway during a behind closed doors meeting on the opening day of business at World Routes and it is our understanding that there is more news to follow, with at least one other airline set to announce its expansion into Chengdu in the coming days.
Tibet Airlines revealed at World Routes that it will introduce a daily link from Sanya, the Chinese beach resort in Hainan province, via Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province and host city for the route development forum, to the Black Sea resort of Sochi in Russia from next year.
Although Transaero is continuing to fly, operational control of the airline has already been passed across to Aeroflot and bookings are no longer being taken beyond December 15, 2015. Although nothing has been formally confirmed on the likely bankruptcy of Transaero, these actions and an ongoing unscheduled safety audit by Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, will likely lead to the closure of the carrier, with creditors such as Sberbank and Alfa Bank set to bring bankruptcy proceedings against the carrier.