Week of April 7, 1997
Transaero In Rosy Colors
There are only two Moscow-based carriers flying to the US - Aeroflot and Transaero. While the former is a company with a long history, the latter is a start-up established in 1990. During all its short history Transaero has remained different from other Russian operators, being the only company putting a premium on foreign-made aircraft. In 1996, the airline carried 1,512,000 passengers, planning to pass the 2-million mark in the current year. By comparison, in 1996, Aeroflot and Vnukovo Airlines, the two most popular Russian operators, carried 3.82 million and 2 million passengers respectively, operating 115 and 59 aircraft mostly of Russian origin.
The 14-strong fleetAt the moment, Transaero's fleet consists of five 737-200s and five 757s in narrow-body, three DC-10-30s and a Il-86 in wide-body airliners. Unlike the majority of Russian carriers, Transaero has tried to exploit the turnaround capabilities of its aircraft to full extent, and not without considerable success. In 1996, the Il-86 "Moskva," which was purchased new from the Voronezh-based VASO factory in 1992, spent 2,700 hours in the air, more than any of 100 such airliners in service with other operators. By the end of last year the plane had carried 500,000 passengers and accumulated 9,000 flight hours (including 1,659 in 1993, 1,977 in 1994, 1,621 in 1995).This particular Il-86 has an unusual, for the type, two-class configuration of its passenger cabin - 30 business and 279 economy seats. "We love this plane very much because it was our first, and also because it has proved effective, safe and reliable," says Transaero president Aleksandr Pleshakov.
 The first foreign-built airliner - the Boeing 737-200 - joined the Transaero fleet in 1993. The company now flies five such aircraft (one owned, two leased from Shannon Air Leasing, one from Finaviation, one from British Airways). In the basic configuration the 737-200 has 21 business and 77 economy class seats. According to Pleshakov, the company's 737s are among the most extensively flown airliners of the type, with average yearly in-flight time per one airframe being 3,455 and 3,700 hours in 1995 and 1996 respectively. Another Boeing aircraft, the 757, started work in Transaero colors in 1994. The number of flight hours logged was 3,559 in 1995 and as high as 4,700 in 1996. As a rule, the passenger cabin is equipped with 32 business and 153 economy-class seats. The Boeing 757 is the best aircraft in Transaero's inventory in terms of passenger comfort, Pleshakov states. There are five 757s in the operator's inventory (one new, two leased from ILFC, two from GPA). Last year's addition to Transaero fleet was a batch of three DC-10-30 wide-body, long-range airliners. Those enabled the company to begin non-stop transatlantic flights on the Moscow - Los Angeles route, lasting for some 12 hours. Each of the three DC-10-30s is furnished with 34 seats for business-class and 256 for economy-class passengers. And, Transaero offers the lowest fares on US - Russia routes.
Fleet expansion plansIn February, Transaero announced its plans to spend some US$2 billion during the next 12-15 years on acquisitions of new aircraft. Having spent 8 months selecting suitable manufacturers and models, the company decided to procure three new types, the Ilyushin Il-96M, Boeing 767 and next-generation Boeing 737. "It is a marvellous combination of two beautiful manufacturers and their products," Pleshakov states.When asked why the company selected one local and one foreign manufacturer, the president answered, "We made our choice basing on such criteria as flight safety, aircraft reliability and passenger comfort, trying to provide our passengers with the best available. Ilyushin's airliners meet those requirements fully - we learned it from the five-year work on the Il-86." He added that although the choice has been made, the financial and technical details of the acquisition program have yet to be worked out. Transaero claims it needs at least ten airliners of each type. "The point of finding financing for the program is not easy, but solvable," says Pleshakov, adding that the company has enough experience in arranging rather big financial deals. According to him, current plans call for a combination of financial leasing, operating leasing and purchase. To raise the money needed, Transaero is going to attract both Russian and Western financiers - the latter will be represented by European and US banks, including the US Ex-Im Bank. Pleshakov hopes to receive the first Il-96M and next-generation 737 during the next three years, noting that neither of them has a certificate of type as of yet. Theoretically, Boeing can deliver its first 737 to Transaero in 1999, provided the financial terms are agreed upon. To bridge the gap between now and the time the next-generation aircraft became available, the operator is going to "hire" several 145-seat 737-400s. Pleshakov says that in 1997 the operator will get "from 3 to 7" Boeings of the 737-400 and 767 models. Transaero is anxious to get 767s, planning to use them on the important long routes linking Moscow with Hong Kong, Vladivostok and Sakhalin. Later they will also fly to Los Angeles, Israel and Akmola. "The 767 will gradually take a big part of the work being done by our DC-10s," says Pleshakov, explaining that the almost 300-seat capacity of the DC-10 is too big for today's market and that the introduction of the 767 will allow to increase frequency of flights on many routes. "The 767 may give a better efficiency on certain routes and better frequencies, including on the routes to Hong Kong and Los Angeles," Pleshakov says. "Besides," he continues, "the 767 is a generation ahead of the DC-10, offering better passenger comfort and air conditioning, with less noise and vibration." However, the DC-10's strengths - a wide-body fuselage and long-range - will keep the plane in business. On certain routes Transaero needs a high capacity aircraft, especially during seasonal peaks. The situation with the Ilyushin is more uncertain because of the recent order from Aeroflot for 17 Il-96Ms and 3 Il-96Ts. The latter loads the production factory in Voronezh to capacity up to the year 2001. The four sides involved in the Il-96M program - the Ilyushin design bureau, VASO factory, Aeroflot and Transaero - have yet to reach agreement concerning financing, the certification process and schedule of deliveries. "All this has yet to be settled," Pleshakov admits, "but we understand one thing - the more orders the factory gets, the more effective production can be set and the better financial terms can be offered to the buyers."
RoutesAccording to the current timetable, Transaero flies on 29 scheduled routes. Last year seven new ones were opened, linking Moscow with Kransnoyarsk and Omsk in Russia, Karaganda, Akmola, Lvov and Kishinev in the CIS countries, and Los-Angeles in the USA. It is planned to open scheduled flights to Novy Urengoi, Samara and Khabarovsk. The operator has received permission to start Moscow to New-York service in 1997.This year Transaero is going to open two strategically-important services to the Pacific Rim, taking advantage of its long-range DC-10s. Hong Kong, destined for its first scheduled Transaero flight on 22 June, will be used as a transfer center for 10 destinations in the region. The opening of non-stop Moscow to Taiwan flights will happen a month later. At the same time, there will be more DC-10 flights to Israel, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok. The DC-10s have been extensively flown on regular charter flights for tourist companies. During the last five years the number of Russians willing to see the world and spend their vacations at world-famous resorts has steadily grown, making Transaero widen the geography of its charter flights to exotic places in the Pacific Rim and the Mediterranean. Tourism is also on the minds of Transaero managers when they speak about a newly-opened scheduled route to Manchester and additional flights to Israel, Frankfurt and Paris planned for the near future. In 1997, Transaero aims to become the most affordable Russian operator serving inner routes. This market is quite different to that of international flights, states Pleshakov. Due to the progressing industrial decline in the Russian province, fewer people can afford air fares. To cope with the situation, Transaero has worked out a program on increasing economic efficiency of operations, which is aimed at reducing ticket prices. The program is based on the airline's Novosibirsk experience - from November to April Transaero has lowered the price for an economy-class ticket by nearly two times, down to Rbs 720,000 for a return and Rbs 450,000 for a single. As a result, the traffic between Moscow and Novosibirsk has increased by 80%. Another important program for Transaero is improving punctuality of flights. In 1995, the on-time figure was 63%, rising to 71% in 1996 and 80% in the first quarter of 1997. The company's leadership is committed to keep the figure at 80% at all costs, in order to satisfy mostly frequently-flying passengers, and businessmen in particular, unhappy with the delays that took place in the previous years.
Flight safetyThe widely held public opinion that flight safety in Russia is very poor does not mesh with appropriate statistics. Gennady Zaitsev, the head of the Federal Aviation Service, states that in 1996, Russian operators showed better incident/accident rates on regular passenger routes than those in the USA and the whole of ICAO. Transaero is deservedly regarded as one of the safest Russian air companies - so far all of the company's passengers have safely reached their destinations. There has not been a single flight accident in the five years the airline has been operating.In 1996, Transaero invested US$25.5 million into aircraft maintenance and another US$1.3 million into training of its 2,500-strong personnel on flight safety matters. As a result, in 1996 Transaero fleet safely spent 45,000 hours in the air, bringing all 1.512 million passengers - 1.082 million on scheduled and 480,000 on charter flights - to their destinations. In 1995, the average number of failures per 1,000 flight hours was 80.1 for the Il-86, 60.7 for the 757 and 127.1 for the 737-200. The exact results for the year 1996 have not been revealed yet, but the company claims the figures saw a 20-45% improvement, depending on aircraft type. Valentin Sushko, the chairman of the Russian Air Register, says, "Transaero is one of those companies that pays great attention to the problems of air worthiness during the whole cycle of aircraft lifetime." In 1996, the Federal Aviation Service conducted four checks on flight safety, all ending up with positive marks for Transaero. Specialists from the US Federal Aviation Administration, Irish and Latvian aviation authorities also checked the operator and found no shortcomings.
Transaero in rosy colours Although Transaero is a rather small operator, responsible for merely 6.5% of all passenger traffic in Russia, it is quite popular and holds its own place in the market. The company has managed to became world-famous, showing a very rapid growth in the number of passengers carried. Transaero looks optimistically at its future, putting a premium on extra long routes, for which it orders modern airliners from the world's best manufacturers. Along with replacing aging airliners with more efficient ones, Transaero has also changed the uniform for its stewardesses. Perhaps rosy attire complements a rosy future? | |
Speaking at the Transaero news conference in
Moscow on 21 February, Thomas Basacchi, vice president with the Boeing
commercial airplane group, said, "We are very glad to be here today to
express our gratitude to our long-time customer, Transaero, for the
confidence it has again expressed in The Boeing Company and our aircraft.
The Boeing Company is committed to Russia, to partnership with the Russian
aviation industry, and we are very proud to be selected by Transaero to
be a provider of their aircraft."
