MOSCOW, November 18 (Sputnik) — The low-cost air carrier Pobeda – a new subsidiary of Aeroflot – sold some 20,000 tickets in a week, a company spokesperson told Sputnik.
Sales started November 11 at 8:40 p.m. Moscow Time. During the first 12 hours, 7,000 tickets to six destinations were sold. The most popular destinations are Ekaterinburg, Tyumen, Perm and Volgograd. The sales Aeroflot’s first low-cost carrier, Dobrolet, were also successful. The company started selling tickets May 26, 2014, filling its first several flights in a matter of hours.
Pobeda will be based in Vnukovo airport in Moscow and will start operating December 1, 2014. The first flight planned is from Moscow to Volgograd. Other destinations will include Samara, Ekaterinburg, Perm, Tyumen and Belgorod. The minimum pretax ticket price is 999 rubles.
Kirill Faminsky, director of ticket agency Pososhok, told Sputnik that the minimum airfare of regular airlines for the same flights is at least three times higher than that of Pobeda.
Aeroflot, Russia’s largest air carrier, registered a new subsidiary company – "Budget Carrier" — on September 16, 2014. The company will operate under the "Pobeda" brand. Aeroflot’s first low-cost carrier, Dobrolet, halted operations August 2014 due to EU sanctions imposed on performing flights to Crimea.
Pobeda plan to carry about ten million passengers annually until 2018. Its fleet will comprise of 40 Boeing 737-800 NG planes. According to the carrier’s website, the route network will include more than 45 domestic and international destinations.
