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According to Banko Information Service, there are two main tendencies emerging for the French Alps skiing destinations in the forthcoming season. First of all, two operators’ pools will be still active (see news from September 9, 2004 and August 17, 2005). Traditionally, Alpine alliance, the first one, included Ertzog, Pac Group, Capital Tour, Vertikalny Mir and Adrenalin, and the second alliance united Ascent Travel, Jet Travel, UTE Megapolus group, VKO Travel, Lanta-tur Voyage and Oduvanchick Tour. However, experts agree that pools structure can change. Alpine alliance members point at disagreements and changes in competitive union, while the latter, in turn, try to assure that some companies from the opposite union are ready to join them. Nevertheless, nobody provides accurate information, referring to the fact that the issue is not settled yet. It is currently known that the both groups are going to deliver long chains to Grenoble from the end of December till beginning of April: Alpine alliance will carry out two weekly charter programs on IL-96 and Boing-737 (with a break in February), the second pool will operate Boing-757. It is not clear yet what air companies will operate the flights. And this is the second obvious tendency that bothers the observers. Market players believe that the reason for such uncertainty is the change of fuel price that hinder preparation of carriers tariff policies. In addition, there is a shortage of boards, since carriers prefer operators with large volumes and long-term programs for the whole season rather than a couple of trips. ‘Currently, only 30-50% of the contracts are signed’, Kseniya Ogienko, UTE Megapolus group tourism director, told to Banko IS.
Yet the main problem now, according to the members, is the impossibility to reach mutual agreement in case of surplus air. ‘Last year we did not reach an agreement, and everyone became aware of the excessive traffic’, says Maria Malysheva, Pac Group’s advertising and PR department manager. The most difficult period may be February, when quotes allocated to Russian market are limited, and prices are above average due to French vacation season. Then the chances are good that two pools will be consolidated.
