OREANDA-NEWS. On 05 March 2008 was announced, that Transaero Airlines had strengthened its leading market position in Russia in terms of seating capacity on long-haul jetliners with the acquisition of two new planes. The addition of a Boeing 767-300ER and a Boeing 747-300 last month has brought carrier’s fleet of long-haul aircraft to 17 and has increased the total long-haul seating capacity to nearly 6,000. The new planes round out Transaero’s fleet at 32 aircraft.

The new aircraft acquisitions are part of Transaero’s development strategy for long-haul routes and provide passengers with more opportunities to travel to global destinations from/through Moscow and Saint Petersburg with their favorite airline. The aircraft also promise to help Transaero maintain high rates of steady long-term growth, a trend begun in 2001 and continuing this year.

Transaero Airlines passenger volume for January 2008 was 0.269 million passengers, a 41% increase on the same period in 2007. Passenger traffic has reached 1,318 million passenger-kilometers, 34% more than for the previous January.

“We’re planning to offer more flights and new routes in 2008. We are convinced our high quality service and top safety standards, together with a constantly enlarging modern fleet, will help us keep our leading positions in the Russian market as well as enabling us to make significant inroads in the international air transport market.” says Transaero Airlines External Relations Director Sergei Byhal.

In 2007 Transaero Airlines became the only Russian carrier with regularly scheduled flights to Australia. This year the carrier plans to add several new long-haul routes, including flights to Japan from Saint Petersburg and to the US from Moscow. The first non-stop Saint Petersburg – Tokyo flight is planned for April 24.

Transaero plans to add more new jetliners to the fleet and continue the development of its route network in 2008.