Hamburg: Germanwings Will Compete With Aeroflot and Lufthansa

[IMG=21273-7146] Starting from October 31st German low-cost airline Germanwings will operate scheduled flights Moscow – Hamburg – Moscow. A – 319 will fly from Vnukovo three times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Travel market experts asses the perspective of the flights differently as two more airlines – Aeroflot and Lufthansa operate flights on the route with quite attractive prices for plane tickets. Lufthansa offers return tickets for 10, 000 rubles (around 370$), while Aeroflot periodically puts on sale plane tickets for 8,000 rubles (around 300$). Furthermore, tickets for Germanwings flights will cost $277 including taxes and fees. Director of Chaika-tour, Alexander Turchenko, believes that the slight difference in price will hardly allow Germanwings to attract a considerable passenger flow from Aeroflot and Lufthansa: ‘the flights to Hamburg are aimed at those who travel on business and individuals. There are no many Russian people in the region’. Moreover, according to Alexander Turchenko, Russian tourists prefer the South of Germany. Olga Zharkova, Head of German Department of Russian Express, agreed: ‘there is shortage of flights to Munich. Nevertheless, co-operation with Germanwings can be efficient. During high season period Aeroflot tends to increase prices, while Germanwings always offers economy-class rates’. Furthermore, Konstantin Bulanov, Head of German Department of Jet Travel, believes that Germanwings can compete with Aeroflot and Lufthansa as the airline offers convenient slots: ‘both business people and tourists fly to Hamburg therefore the flights might be operated at their full capacity’.