OREANDA-NEWS. April 04, 2012. After a pause of 9 years, Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot made its return to Vilnius Airport (VIA) by connecting the capital of Lithuania to Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport with its daily flights. The first flight on the route from Moscow to Vilnius was operated on 25 March, while the first flight from Vilnius to Moscow took place this morning, reported the press-centre of Vilnius Airport.

According to VIA Managing Director Tomas Vaisvila, the flight is adjusted to the needs of business clients and expands the opportunities of frequent travellers to reach the capital of Russia: “Passengers from Vilnius Airport to Moscow can already choose one out of 25 direct flights per week, whereas the new Aeroflot’s route is convenient for people travelling on business purposes – the time of departure and arrival enables passengers to spend the entire business day in Moscow and to return to Lithuania in the evening”. The new route marks the beginning of more intensive business and friendly relations between the two countries, Aeroflot’s press release says. 

Aeroflot’s aircraft will take off from Vilnius Airport at 5:40 a.m. and land at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport at 8:05 a.m. Moscow time every day 7 days a week. The aircraft will make a daily return to Vilnius at 22:15 after taking off from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport at 21:40 local time. The expected duration of flight is 1 hour 35 min.

The head of Vilnius International Airport notes that this flight opens new possibilities for passengers, through connecting flights, to reach all major Russian cities from Vilnius (Yekaterinburg, Arkhangelsk, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladivostok, Perm, etc.), the cities in CIS member countries – Astana, Almaty, Tashkent, Duchanbe, etc. Also, from now on Aeroflot offers an opportunity to reach remote Asian cities from Vilnius through Moscow directly – Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, etc.  

OJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines will operate daily flights to Sheremetyevo Airport by new Russian aircrafts SSJ-100. With a two-class cabin configuration, the aircraft will accommodate 87 passengers (12 seats in business class and 75 seats in economy class).Aeroflot’s fleet consists of 116 aircrafts.  

From now on, all major airports in Moscow can be reached from Vilnius: UTair operates twice-a-day flights to Vnukovo Airport; Transaero Airlines offers flights to Domodedovo Airport 4 times a week. Sheremetyevo Airport – the new Aeroflot’s destination airport – is situated in the north-west of Moscow. 

Founded in 1923, the largest Russian airline OJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines belongs to SkyTeam airline alliance. In 2011 Aeroflot carried over 14 million passengers.