Ural Airlines’ developmental experts summed up the results of the airline’s online ticket sales. The e-booking office available at www.uralairlines.com started operating in February 2006. The site was made as user-friendly as possible, and the booking procedure is even demonstrated with the help of a video clip.

Payments are made electronically as well using Visa Classic, Visa Gold, MasterCard/EuroCard, Diners Club, JCB, WebMoney, E-port, Credit Pilot, and very soon, Yandex Money; alternatively, a customer can always book online and pay for the ticket in any of the carrier’s booking offices.

The number of tickets sold online rises by 1.5% to 2% every month, and the total turnover growth reached 20% in January-September 2007. This means the share of online sales in the total number of tickets sold by Ural Airlines comes to 1-2% on average and to 4-6% in Yekaterinburg. On average, 2,000-2,500 plane tickets are sold electronically every month, the carrier’s press officer says.

Most online customers buy tickets for domestic flights: 50% of tickets sold electronically are normally for Yekaterinburg-Moscow-Yekaterinburg flights, 20% are for Yekaterinburg-Saint Petersburg flights, 14% are for Yekaterinburg-Sochi flights, and 7% are for flights bound to Anapa. Only 3% of online customers are interested in international flights.

The company’s e-services keep developing, special discounts are offered to those who book online, and such customers are charged no fuel fee, either. One can also hire a taxi for before or after the flight and place a special meal order for the flight. Very soon, the airline is going to make e-tickets available as well, which means no paper tickets will be necessary. In addition, Ural Airlines is considering creating a system of passenger check-in with a help of special interactive computers or even the customers’ mobile phones.