OREANDA-NEWS. January 28, 2010. Transaero Airlines continued its stable development in 2009 despite the global economic recession and the downturn in the Russian air transport market. It has maintained its position as the country’s second largest carrier and increased year-on-year operational indices. With more than 5 million passengers carried in 2009, it was a record year for Transaero.

2009 Highlights:

· Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) grew by 1.18 million to a total of 18.73 million, a 6.7% increase over 2008

· The volume of passengers carried grew by 172,000, reaching a total of over 5.03 million, 3.6% more than in 2008

· Freight turnover grew by 147 million tons km to a total of 1.86 million tkm, an 8.6% increase over 2008

· Transaero delivered a total of 29,354 tons of mail and cargo in 2009, up 21% from 2008

The beginning of 2009 was marked by a sharp fall in the Russian air transport market. In May Transaero managed to break the trend and increased key operational indices each month thereafter. In December 2009 separately, Transaero’s turnover had grown by 36.8%, the volume of passengers carried by 41.5% and cargo delivered by 57.5%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2008.

Adding new domestic destinations was a top priority for the carrier in its strategic route network development. Transaero launched 12 new domestic routes in 2009 from Moscow to Blagoveshchensk, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Magadan, Magnitogorsk, Novy Urengoy, Omsk, Samara, Ulan – Ude and Ufa. The company also increased the frequency and capacity on existing domestic destinations by launching operations with Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft on certain routes.

In 2009 Transaero’s RPK on domestic routes increased by 66.5% and the volume of passengers grew by 69.4% over 2008. The share of domestic operations in Transaero’s total RPK has increased from 16.4% to 25.7% and the share of domestic passengers carried from 12.9% to 21.1%.

In 2009 Transaero became the largest airline operating flights to destinations in the Russian Far East, and was the most active participant in the Russian federal program for subsidized transport for residents of the region.

In 2009 Transaero strengthened its position as the second largest carrier on international routes in Russia. It became Russia's first airline to place seventh internationally in volume of passengers carried to leisure destinations, despite the fact that the share of charter flights in Transaero’s total traffic is less than 14%.

In 2009 Transaero Airlines performed its first flight to Mexico and also launched a range of flights from St.-Petersburg, Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk to international destinations in the Middle East and South-East Asia.

In 2009 the number of passengers carried on scheduled Transaero flights grew by 27.6%. In 2009 the share of scheduled flights was 86.2% of all flights in total and 80.6% of the company’s passenger turnover were derived from scheduled flights as well.

In 2009 the number of transit passengers grew by more than 36% due to domestic flight network expansion.

Transaero continued to expand and renew its fleet in 2009, adding seven new aircraft: one Boeing-777, one Boeing 747-300, two Boeing 737-800s NG, two Boeing 737-500s and one Tu-214. At the same time two Boeing-747-200s were decommissioned.

At the end of 2009, Transaero’s fleet consisted of 47 modern aircraft - eleven Boeing 747s, three Boeing 777s, eleven Boeing 767s, nineteen Boeing 737s and three Tu-214s.

Transaero has the largest fleet of long-haul aircraft in Russia, the CIS, Eastern and Central Europe in terms of seating capacity and is the only operator of Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft in the region.

Transaero Airlines continued to expand its international cooperation by signing in 2009 a code – share agreement with Austrian Airlines on Moscow – Vienna route, and a Special Prorate Agreement (SPA) with Lufthansa.

Transaero Airlines has been actively integrating state-of-the-art technologies into its service program, being the first Russian full-service airline to switch to e-ticketing on all flights.

In 2009 Transaero Airlines strengthened its reputation as a reliable capital market participant. In February the airline completed payment of a 2.5 billion ruble 3-year debut loan and issued a corporate ruble bond loan for 3 billion rubles in October.

Even in turbulent times, Transaero has managed to retain its professional staff.

Furthermore, the company has provided more than 500 new jobs for industry specialists across Russia, including jobs in cities where local carries have cut employments duе to bankruptcy.

The Transaero Corporate Charity program launched projects to assist children suffering from cancer and was recognized as the best children’s charity programs in Russia in 2009 according to a study by the leading daily newspaper Vedomosti, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Donors Forum non-profit partnership.

The Association of Managers of Russia honored Transaero with the Social Innovation award at the People Investor 2009 forum. The company’s program to involve staff in charitable activities was highly praised.

“We are certainly pleased with the results of our work," commented Transaero Airlines General Director Olga Pleshakova, summing up the years activity. “2009 confirms the strength of our consistent strategy and flexible, market-responsive tactics. Our practical pricing policy has aimed at increasing the availability of air transport for all Russians. The outstanding professionalism of our staff and their dedication to the company during this time of crisis has ensured sustainable development for our airline. We are confident and optimistic about the future. We highly appreciate the efforts of the Russian authorities and the anti-crisis measures they have put through to support domestic civil aviation. I want to thank all our partners for their cooperation and, of course, all our passengers for choosing Transaero."