Low cost will be forced into Russia

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    The European market of low-budget flights is close to saturation. This is confirmed by the research carried out by the consulting company Arthur D. Little. If this year the increase of "cheap" transportation will be around 20%, then next year it will slow down to 12%, says the acrticle, published in the German journal FVW. At the same time traditional companies also try to more actively oppose to discounters. For example, Lufthansa recently announced the plans to prevent further losses of its share in the market, taken by low cost companies. The air giant intends to fight with rivals using their weapon - essentially expanding the network and increasing the flights to various locations in Europe. Since next January Lufthansa’s schedule will have 44 weekly flights from Dusseldorf to seven European cities - Birmingham, Barcelona, Manchester, Leon, Nice, Rome and Madrid. Analysts believe that touughening of the competition can collapse some low cost companies. Stronger firms will search for new ways of development, advancing to the nearby markets, including in Russia.
    However, they are not expected in Russia; representatives of travel business interviewed by a BANKO correspondent do not hurry to get excited about the prospect. The cost of ticket from discounters flying to our country is not strikingly different from traditional tariff, and such flights do not usually influence the travel market. ‘There are not any real low cost carriers with the tickets costing 20 Euro in Russia and they will never be. Besides, the majority of Russians flying abroad unlike Europeans are of middle or above middle class. For them the difference in a couple of dozens of Euros is of no fundamental importance. What is more significant is that quality of services, which is not very impressive at all with low-budget companies’, - explains Svetlana Tsodykovskaya, general director of ‘Jet Travel’. ‘Certainly, European low cost carriers will advance to Russia, but not as quickly or as a mainstream because there are many restraining factors’, - says Dmitry Gorin, general director of ‘Inna tours’. However, there are also more optimistic market participants. ‘In the nearest time, such advancement of low cost companies as in Europe should not be expected in Russia, but it might be possible in future (3-7 years) if there is not going to be any restrictions from the state’, - believes Larisa Mikhasenok, director of the transport department in ‘Roses of winds’.