OREANDA-NEWS. On 16 April 2008 was announced, that UTair carried 675,576 passengers in the first quarter of 2008, up 28.1 percent from the same period in 2007. In addition, the company also made substantial advances in other performance indicators in the reporting period. In particular, passenger traffic rose 22.2 percent to 986,610,700 passenger-kilometers.

From January to March 2008, the volume of mail carried by the airline’s transport aircraft went up by 62 percent.

UTair’s helicopter flying time amounted to 10,608 flight hours, up 18.6 percent from the previous year.

The volume of cargo carried by helicopters increased 33.8 percent in the reporting period.

According to UTair’s business plan, its revenue is expected to rise 55 percent in 2008 reaching RUB 33bn (approx. USD 1.41bn). The airline’s planes and helicopters will spend some 240,000 hours in the air in 2008. Some four million passengers are expected to be carried and 20 new routes introduced. Helicopter operations will be held in Russia and eleven other countries.