Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines increases number of flights to/from Ukraine (05/07/06)

A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines increases number of flights to/from Ukraine

NEW YORK - The largest Ukrainian airline - Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines - introduced its new New York-Kyiv route on March 30, 2003. Back then, Aerosvit offered its regular Boeing 767 services twice a week. In the next three years the airline doubled the number of its weekly direct flights on this route and managed to retain a high number of passengers.

"Having started our regular U.S. flights during very difficult times for the airline industry, Aerosvit has dealt effectively with the consequences of the Iraq war, dangerous epidemics and rising fuel prices," said Vitaly Potemkin, general director of Aerosvit. "We have continuously increased the volume of air transport traffic on our trans-Atlantic and other routes."

"Today we are confident that the Ukrainian fleet has become an integral part of the global airline network in Europe and North America," he stated. "State Aviation is of vital importance to any country, and Aerosvit has thus far excelled in representing Ukraine successfully on the international air transport market. And this is one of the most significant achievements of our operations in the U.S.A."

In comparison to the first year of company operations in the U.S. market, in 2005 Aerosvit doubled the annual number of its regular flights between Ukraine and the U.S. to 396 flights.

Its air cargo volume soared 2.2 times and reached 1,700 tons. The passenger load factor increased 2.4 times and reached 78,000. The passenger load factor during 2005 on North American routes alone was 86 percent.

On the whole, from 2003 to the present, Aerosvit transported 185,000 passengers and carried 4,500 tons of cargo on the New York-Kyiv route.

In the last three years the airline's network coverage has also increased from seven to 12 routes within Ukraine and from 24 to 35 routes on the international market. These changes allowed Aerosvit to offer better connecting times between flights at Boryspil Airport in Kyiv for passengers on its U.S. flight routes.

In particular, during the 2006 summer period, passengers traveling from the United States will be able to travel to the largest cities in Ukraine such as Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Luhansk, Lviv, Mariupol, Odesa, Symferopol, Uzhhorod, Kharkiv and Chernivtsi.

The route to/from New York also offers convenient connecting times with a large variety of international destinations, including Delhi (India), Peking (China), Tel Aviv (Israel), Cairo (Egypt), Dubai (UAE), Thessaloniki (Greece), Sofia (Bulgaria), Moscow and St. Petersburg (Russia), Chisinau (Moldova) and Baku (Azerbaijan).

Aerosvit serves 28 destinations in the U.S. through its codeshare partnership with the U.S. carrier Delta Airlines. At present Aerosvit and Delta Airlines are in the process of negotiating the terms of Aerosvit's further route expansion, which will increase the number of its destinations to 39.

The flight schedule for the 2006 summer season will see the number of weekly flights on the New York-Kyiv increased to five regular flights per week, with departures scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Aerosvit's flight schedule for the 2006-2007 winter seasons will offer four regular flights a week on this popular route.

12th year of operations

Aerosvit was founded in 1994 and became one of the first companies in Ukraine to offer its passengers comfortable airplanes, quality service and modern safety standards.

Since 2000 Aerosvit has been a leading Ukrainian airline in terms of the number of passengers carried and its growth rate.

The 2005 total passenger load factor, in comparison to 2004, increased by 28 percent and reached 1.4 million passengers.

Among all Ukrainian airline companies, Aerosvit's market share, based on the passenger load factor, reached 36 percent in 2005.

Airline network

Aerosvit now operates the largest network among all the Ukrainian airlines. It consists of 35 regular routes connecting Ukraine with 27 countries worldwide (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Israel, India, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, China, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, the United Arab Emirates, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, the U.S., Thailand, Turkmenistan, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia) on top of 12 regular flights within Ukraine.

Aerosvit has added more routes to its network through more than 20 code-share agreements with another air carriers and more than 100 commercial interline agreements with its partners, which can accept each other's travel tickets, cargo documents, baggage transfers, etc.

Therefore, the company became the first and the largest Ukrainian air carrier to offer its passengers an opportunity to use only one ticket across five continents such as the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. As a result, transit passenger movement and air cargo volume have increased dramatically at Boryspil airport in Kyiv.

Modern technologies

One of the most important parts of the airline's success is its application of new technologies to improve passenger services. For example, in 2004 Aerosvit became the first air carrier within the post-USSR arena to offer online ticketing services through its own website.

At present the airline company has expanded its online ticketing services by integrating the largest specialized U.S. Internet sites into its system. In August 2005 Aerosvit became the first airline among Eastern European air carriers to offer e-ticketing services to its customers. And the first route where the new technology was implemented was New York-Kyiv.

Delhi, Budapest and Moscow will soon be part of the e-program. By the end of 2006 Aerosvit plans to use e-ticketing services on the majority of its international routes.

Future growth

At present Aerosvit's aircraft fleet consists of 10 Boeing 737s and two Boeing 767s. In 2006 three Boeing aircraft will be added to the fleet.

Along with that, Aerosvit has confirmed its ambitious plan to modernize its aircraft fleet in the next four to six years and increase the number of its aircraft by 3.5 times, totaling 42 aircraft - 24 aircraft used for medium distances, eight used for long distances and 10 for regional routes.

The airline intends to use a new generation of long-distance and medium-distance aircraft by 2011. This spring Aerosvit will start negotiations with Airbus and Boeing in regards to its new fleet.

Airline safety standards

In the beginning of 2006 Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines received an International Audit Certificate of Operational Safety (IOSA). This system determines the degree of an airline's conformity to International Air Transport Association (IATA) rules in terms of company management, technical service, fleet operations, passenger services, flight safety and overall safety.

- PR Department, Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines

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