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According to the information received by IS BANKO, the first charter flight to Rome declared for October 30 is delayed. The official reason for it, according to Anastasia Volnova representing the press-service of the KD-Avia Airline company, is the request of the customer – the Neva Company.’The charter was delayed due to insufficient occupancy,’ explained Boris Volkov, the Head of the Neva Transport Department. ‘The date of the flight depends on the companies which buy the blocks of it, on the volume of their sales.’
The “block” companies (including Visa Concord, Wind Rose etc.) express their bewilderment stating not only a good occupancy and deep sales, but also a great interest to the program. According to their data, the occupancy of the nearest flights makes up from 70-80 to 100 per cent of seats. The tour operators who have to distribute their tourists among other flights now believe that the story of insufficient occupancy does not sound convincing though.
Here is the explanation of the situation given by an air transport expert who preferred to hide his name: ‘It could be the first assault of the price war in the Rome area. The Alitalia and Aerflot companies which held the prices for Rome united their efforts to keep the charter flight grounded, and they found necessary ropes to pull. It does not mean that the flight will be grounded forever, the Neva has a very strong position in the market. The issue will probably be solved later in the course of negotiations.’ The statement of the KD-Avia Company representative provides an indirect backing for this unofficial version. According to Anastasia Volnova, the flight is officially cancelled for all the period which was declared earlier – from October 30 to December 19, but the consolidator may send a request to resume the flight some time later.
The information that the Rome flight had run into some sort of trouble appeared before: there were rumors in the market, for instance, concerning the delayed inbound clearance papers for the charter on the part of Ciampino Airport (see BANKO news of October 26). The press-service of the airport told the IS BANKO reporter that there was no ban on the flight on their part. According to the airport representative, the flight is not scheduled for October 30, and the future of the charter flight is the concern of the airline company, they will receive the flight as soon as there is a decision to send the flight from Moscow.
