Aerosvit Airlines
In October 2006 AeroSvitÛUkrainian Airlines transported its six-millionth passenger. This event occurred almost simultaneously with another important milestone, the companyÌs 12 th anniversary.
AeroSvit was founded in 1994 as a closed joint-stock company (CJSC). At present, 62% of AeroSvitÌs shares belong to Ukrainian ownersÛthe State Property Fund (22.4%), Genaviainvest companies (about 25%), Ukrinfokonsalt (9.8%), and Buro (4.8%). The remaining 38% is owned by the Dutch company Gilward Investments BV.
AeroSvit was one of the first Ukrainian air carriers to offer its passengers flights on comfortable planes with high quality service and modern standards of aviation security. In October 1994, AeroSvit leased its first Boeing-737, which was used to perform flights from Kyiv to the capitals of Russia, Israel, and Greece as well as to Larnaca (Cyprus) and Odesa.
With each passing year, the airline has increased its route network, expanded its fleet, and enlarged its traffic volumes. Since 2000, AeroSvit has been the undisputed leader among Ukrainian air carriers in terms of passenger quantity.
Two years later, the company showed a nearly 40% increase in passenger traffic, confirming its readiness to develop new international routes. In particular, AeroSvit was the first present-day Ukrainian airline to operate long-haul routes. In 2002-2004, the company opened five direct transcontinental flights between the capital of Ukraine and Bangkok, New York, Toronto, Delhi, and Beijing. Due to the successful development of these routes, in 2003 and 2004, AeroSvit accomplished record-breaking results that were not typical in this crisis period for the global aviation industry. In 2003, the airline increased its traffic by 60%, in 2004, by 53%.
From 2005-2006, AeroSvit's growth rate exceeded the industry average once again. In 2005, the passenger turnover rate grew by 26.5% and amounted to 3.3 billion passenger-kilometers. During the first nine months of 2006, this figure grew by 21% (compared to the same period in 2005) to 3 billion passenger-kilometers. AeroSvitÌs share in the Ukrainian aviation industryÌs passenger turnover reached almost 46% from January to September 2006.
In 2006, AeroSvit continued to expand its route network in co-operation with its partner airlines, stressing the development of flights from regional Ukrainian airports. In particular, the company started flights from Donets'k to Tel-Aviv; from Odesa to Moscow, Warsaw, and Prague; from Simferopol' to Moscow and the Lithuanian capital Vilnius; and from Zaporizhzhia, Luhans'k, and Uzhhorod to Kyiv. Two other new routes connected the capital of Ukraine with Naples and Vilnius.
As a result, presently AeroSvit services the largest route network of all Ukrainian air carriers. It includes 60 international routes, which connect Ukraine with capitals, business centers, and world renowned resorts in 29 countries, including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the USA, and the United Arab Emirates.
AeroSvit also performs flights to the 11 largest administrative centers in UkraineÛChernivtsi, Dnipropetrovs'k, Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Odesa, Simferopol', Uzhhorod, and Zaporizhzhia.
AeroSvitÌs route network is supplemented with flights operated by foreign and domestic partners, with which the company has signed over 20 code-share and about 150 tariff and interline agreements. AeroSvitÌs code-share partners include such well-known companies as Thai Airways International, El-Al (Israel), Czech Airlines, Malev (Hungary), LOT (Poland), Olympic (Greece), Pakistan International Airlines, Indian Airlines, airBaltic (Latvia), flyLAL (Lithuania), and many others. AeroSvit also co-operates with many global carriers, including some of the top ten airlines in the worldÛDelta and Northwest Airlines, Air France, KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Japan Airlines, among others. Co-operation with these and dozens of other companies allows AeroSvit to deliver passengers to thousands of terminals in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia using a single AeroSvit ticket.
Thus, AeroSvit became the largest network carrier in the country, contributing to the growth of UkraineÌs reputation as a modern European state integrated into the global air transport system. This resulted in rapid development of transit flows via Boryspil' International Airport that confirmed AeroSvitÌs significant contribution to the national strategy to develop UkraineÌs transit potential.
To service growing traffic volumes, AeroSvit has almost doubled its fleet over the last three years. At present, the company has 13 aircraft, including 11 medium-haul Boeing 737s and two long-haul Boeing 767s for transcontinental flights.
Moreover, within the next 5-6 years, AeroSvit plans to renew and expand its fleet by almost 3.5 times. In particular, by 2011 the Ukrainian carrier will start to use next generation medium and long-haul aircraft. The worldÌs leading aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, are preparing their proposals to the request (RFP) sent by AeroSvit in June of this year. By the end of 2006, Boeing and Airbus will present their offers concerning aircraft delivery terms as well as post-sale maintenance. During the first quarter of 2007, AeroSvit plans to choose the supplier and thus define the companyÌs future fleet configuration.
Flight safety and aviation security have always been the companyÌs topmost priorities. At the beginning of 2006, AeroSvit was granted a certificate from the International Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). This is a comprehensive airline inspection system operated in accordance with the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The program demands the strictest requirements for flight management, aircraft maintenance and operation, passenger service, flight safety, and aviation security. In January 2006, AeroSvit became the 85th airline out of 260 IATA members included in the IOSA register.
Implementation of modern booking and distribution technologies has also strengthened AeroSvitÌs position in the new markets. In February 2004, AeroSvit was the first among air carriers in the New Independent States to open online ticket sales via its website.
A year and a half later, AeroSvit outpaced other carriers in former Soviet countries once again by being the first to implement another new technologyÛelectronic tickets. Since August 15, 2005, AeroSvit has gradually implemented e-ticketing technology on flights to and from 9 cities: New York, Tel Aviv, Sofia, Delhi, Birmingham, Hamburg, Toronto, Stockholm, and Bangkok. As of today, about 30,000 passengers have been able to fly with e-tickets from UkraineÌs largest air carrier. It is expected that by the end of 2007, the new service will be available on all of AeroSvitÌs international routes.
AeroSvit is a member of many international organizations, namely:
Ô International Air Transport Association (IATA), including IATA Clearing House and IATA Billing and Settlement Plans (BSP),
Ô US Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC),
Ô UK Flight Safety Foundation
Ô European Business Association (EBA) and American Trade Chamber in Ukraine (AmCham Ukraine)
Ô International Chamber of Commerce (Ukrainian national committee)
Press-service,
AeroSvit - Ukrainian Airlines
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