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Russia's First Budget Airline
The budget airline trend which has swept through Europe in the last few years has finally reached Russia.
On Monday, January 29, SkyExpress launched Russia's budget airline category with an $18 flight from Moscow's Vnukovo airport to the city of Sochi on the Black Sea.
Affordable transportation has always been a goal of Russia, the largest country in the world. Without it, the country would grind to a halt. "When the trains stop," Lenin once said, "that's it."
Unfortunately, "affordable transportation" usually means 3-4 days on a train. Personally, I love the trains. But the last few times I've been to Russia I simply didn't have the luxury of such time and purchased airline tickets instead. Russian domestic flights are still somewhat affordable for tourists (the Sochi flight is normally $105 on Aeroflot) but not so much for the average Russian.
A budget plane option will be a godsend to Russians tired of traveling long distances on trains. Let's just hope that "budget" doesn't' mean cutting too many corners. Russia already has one of the worst airliner safety records in the developed world.
Filed under: Russian Federation, Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Beth Feb 11th 2007 9:23PM
OMG, I cannot imagine what a budget flight in Russia would be like. I have flown Aeroflot and the plastic walls were coming down, seatbacks and tray tables did not work. I was praying the entire time that we would make it to our destination. "Budget" seemed already in place on that flight!