OREANDA-NEWS. On October 29, 2013, the 13th Annual Interline Conference DME Connections organized by Domodedovo Airport was held. The event was attended by over a hundred professionals of Russian and foreign airlines, aviation market experts, representatives of airports and specialized companies.

As a part of the presentation part of the Interline Conference, Sergey Seskutov, Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, spoke about the current state and prospects for the liberalization of the international transportation market in Russia. The topic of modern IT-technologies and their importance for the aviation industry also interested the participants. Dmitriy Kryukov, Head of the Service Yandex.Timetables, spoke as an expert in using search engines in aviation. “Yandex search engine is a useful tool for all members of the aviation system allowing companies to post information about tickets, timetables, transfer services, airports, expanding choices for passengers. And here there are issues to be addressed which cannot be worked out without aviation professionals. It as especially useful to get feedback from a unique target audience - specialists of the aviation market at the DME Connections,” said Mr. Kryukov.

During the second part of the conference, the participants held scheduled meetings taking an advantage of an excellent opportunity to discuss current issues and possible options for cooperation with partners.

As a part of the DME Connections 2013, the award ceremony was held where the winners of the most punctual airlines - Just in Time - were awarded. Punctuality of airlines being Domodedovo partners was evaluated in eight categories - depending on frequency of flights and a maximum take-off weight of aircraft. The Honorary Diploma of the winner in the first category was received by Transaero for which Domodedovo Airport is the base airport. In 2013, it became the winner of the World Airline Awards Prize established by Skytrax agency in the global category Airline of the World that has Achieved the Most Progress. “This award clearly demonstrates the high level of professionalism of the partners: both the Transaero team and the Domodedovo Airport team,” said Dmitriy Yerzakovich, Deputy General Director of Transaero.

The best results in other categories were demonstrated by such airlines as Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Rossiya, Turkmenistan Airlines, Tulpar Air, Dniproavia and Saratov Airlines.

In a special nomination Best Dynamics of Transfer Traffic Development established under the DME Connections, a certificate of the winner was received by Ural Airlines. In 2013, the airline attracted a record number of transfer passengers over its history of cooperation with Moscow Domodedovo Airport.

The DME Connections aimed at promoting cooperation between Russian and foreign airlines being partners of Moscow Domodedovo Airport has been held since 2000. The Interline Conference offers its participants an opportunity to reach agreements subsequently allowing their passengers to carry out transfer flights in a more comfortable and budget-friendly way.

For 13 years of its existence, the DME Connections has proved to be an effective international business platform for negotiation, establishment and development of contacts among aviation market professionals of Russia, near/far-abroad countries.