Moscow
BA and Aeroflot are both authorised to operate 21 services each week between London and Moscow under the current Air Service Agreement. BA have had three flights per day between LHR and DME for several years though not always seven days a week. But since the start of S12 they are using their full allocation with 1 x 747 and 2 x 767 daily.
Temporarily they are also running the two daily ex-BMI A321s.
I agree with the previous posters that SVO is (or was when I was last there) a dump, one of the most depressing airports I operated to, even worse than LAX.. So why is BA proposing to try it again ? I think Aksai Oiler is right, it's partly catchment area and partly connections. But the extra factor may be the Air Service Agreement which I believe is due for re negotiation. Russia recently liberalised its bilaterals with France and Italy and Transaero are expanding aggressively in those markets. BA could be positioning itself for a similar outcome to the UK negotiations.
And why LGW not LHR ? Perhaps they do not want to allocate any more longhaul capacity to what is really a shorthaul route, and using LGW helps differentiate the product. And they could be hoping for a new feed to those LGW leisure routes.
Last edited by Tagron; 8th Aug 2012 at 21:45.
Reason: Add Title