Lufthansa Gives Up on Sheremetyevo
The East Line Group, which manages Domodedovo Airport, and the German airline Lufthansa signed a memorandum yesterday on the transfer of all the airline's flights from Sheremetyevo Airport to Domodedovo. Lufthansa has flown through Sheremetyevo for all the 35 years since it began regular flights to Russia. Its departure will cost Sheremetyevo 6-7 percent of its income.
Lufthansa is Europe's largest air carrier, with over 50 million passengers a year, and the most active foreign airline on Russia, with 200 flights a week to the CIS, of which 60 flights, with a 1 million passengers are to Moscow. Domodedovo is Russia's busiest airport, with over 15 million passengers last year. The change will take place in April 2008, when Lufthansa's contract will Sheremetyevo ends. It will place the airline under the same roof as other members of the Star Alliance, which it heads, and with the Russia AirUnion, headed by KrasAir.
The loss of income at Sheremetyevo from Lufthansa is estimated at $14 million. At Sheremetyevo, they point out that a rail line to airport is to be completed by the end of the year, after which it will be faster to reach that airport from downtown Moscow than Domodedovo. A new terminal, Sheremetyevo 3, will be opened, the new Terminal C is already operational and Sheremetyevo 2 will be reconstructed next year. Handling (baggage, freight and passenger handling, aircraft servicing) is cheaper at Sheremetyevo. Therefore, airport managers expect to find clients to replace Lufthansa.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 12, 2007
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