Says Koltsovo airport spokesperson Yulia Fedotova: ‘Siberia Airlines applied for a permission to perform Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights via our airport in the end of 2005. Yet in mid-January 2006 Koltsovo decided to refuse them the slots they needed.’

Ms Fedotova explained that the arrival of one more carrier onto Moscow-bound market would hardly be expedient. Koltsovo airport specialists had estimated that 250,998 people traveled from Yekaterinburg to Moscow via 3,290 flights performed by Ural Airlines, Aeroflot, Transaero using TU-154, TU-134, IL-86, Airbus 320, and Boeing 737. 2, 921 flights were regular ones.

‘This gives us an average of 85 passengers per one Yekaterinburg-Moscow flight, or 65.6% of the aircraft passenger capacity. This is slightly less than the normal and satisfactory figure of 70%. Should 77% of the plane passenger capacity be filled up, there would certainly emerge a greater demand and we would have to introduce extra flights. Yet the statistics indicates that any new Moscow-bound flights would not be worthwhile,’ Ms Fedotova said.

It has been meanwhile reported that local booking offices are already selling the tickets for Siberia Airlines Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights in March. ‘Yet the company does not perform any flights whatsoever from Yekaterinburg,’ Ms Fedotova noted.