The Sochi airport currently handles no more than 26,000 passengers a day. Figures of a pilot and a flight attendant are seen at a playground in Sochi.
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Aeroflot to Bid for Olympic Air Carrier Status
Russia’s major airline Aeroflot is going to seek the status of an official air carrier for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the company’s executive said Tuesday. The status is likely boost Aeroflot’s traffic volume as 1.5 million people are expected to visit the Olympics in Sochi. Meanwhile, transport officials have announced plans to double the capacity of the Moscow airports. Experts, however, still voice concern over the capacity of the Sochi airport which would have to work 25 days non stop to receive planes with athletes and tourists.
“In February, we launched direct flights from Sochi to Frankfurt and Istanbul, which was a condition of the International Olympic Committee,” Aeroflot’s director general Valery Okulov said Tuesday. “We are a traditional air carrier of the Russian national Olympic team, and I hope we will become an Olympic carrier in 2014 as well.” He said the airline company is gong to send its bid to the Russian Transport Ministry and the national Olympic Committee.
Aeroflot explained that it is going to ask for a permission use the Olympic brand, which will definitely increase the company’s traffic volume.
A spokesman for the Russian Olympic Committee said that an estimated 1.5 million people will fly to Sochi. Transport Minister Igor Levitin said the capacity of Moscow airports is expected to double by 2010. The Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo handled 32 million passengers last year. Transport officials aim to increase the figure to 60 million to make the Russian capital “a transit point for the passengers to go to the Olympics.”
A new terminal in Sheremetyevo is to be put into operation this year to handle 9 million passengers annually. The revamped Vnukovo is to increase the capacity to 20 million from 7.5 million. Terminals in Domodedovo are also to be expanded.
The Sochi airport currently handles no more than 26,000 passengers a day. “But its capacity will increase to the number of passengers going to the Olympics in Sochi,” Basic Element, which owns the airport, told Kommersant. Under the development plan, the airport will boost the capacity to 60,000 passengers a day. In this case the Sochi airport will have to work 24 hours 25 days in a row to land planes with 1.5 million. Experts note that the organizers are likely to use nearby small airports in Gelendzhik and Anapa and train service. The Transport Ministry promises a speed line between Moscow and Sochi to cut a train journey from 36 to less than 24 hours.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 11, 2007
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