OREANDA-NEWS. The operational results for the first month of Transaero's discount class operation highlight a successful start and the high demand for the product.

More than 161,000 passengers travelled in Transaero's discount class from January 14 through to mid-February. The load factor on a number of destinations was more than 90%.

Taking into consideration the increasing demand, the company decided to expand its discount class offering by extending the number of destinations available with this service and increasing flight frequency on the existing routes. At present, Transaero is carrying out a passenger demand survey in Russia and abroad.

Discount class flights are currently available from Moscow Domodedovo Airport to Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody, Novosibirsk, Novy Urengoy, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Stavropol, Tomsk, Ufa, Khanty-Mansiysk, Kiev, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Astana, Almaty, Karaganda, Yerevan, Antalya, Barcelona, Berlin, Vienna, Vilnius, London, Milan, Rome, Tel Aviv.

Transaero Airlines was the first airline in Russia to start offering discount class product given that the Russian legislation is yet to be changed to allow non-refundable air ticket sales and the hiring of foreign pilots as well as to abolish the requirements to provide complimentary inflight meals and free luggage allowance. The airline expects the regulations on these issues to change in the near future.

With a view to make air travel more affordable, Transaero Airlines has submitted a proposal to the Russian Transport Ministry to alter the current regulation on airport charges imposed on airlines for passenger check-in. Currently airlines pay equal charge for every passenger check-in. The amount does not depend on whether a passenger with carry-on baggage registers online or at self-service kiosks at the passenger terminal, or whether a passenger has check-in baggage and has to register at the airport counter. Transaero proposed to differentiate the airport charges imposed on airlines depending on the way of check-in chosen by a passenger. The initiative has gained support of the Ministry of Transport.

Moreover, to further expand the new product offering, Transaero Airlines has made a decision to reconfigure its Boeing 737Classic aircraft, operated on discount class flights, to a mono-class cabin, thus increasing passenger capacity of the aircraft. The reconfiguration will not affect passenger comfort as Business class seats will be removed and extra economy class rows will be installed on their place.

It is foreseen that passengers purchasing tickets at Y-tariff will be seated in the front rows with a middle seat vacant in their respective 3-seat row in a mono-class cabin.

Discount class travel terms: In accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations Transaero discount class offers complimentary meals and refreshments onboard depending on the duration of the flight, which can last up to 4.5 hours. Passengers are served juices, soda, water, tea and coffee on all the airline's discount class flights. Flights lasting up to two hours also include a sweet snack. Passengers on flights lasting from 2 to 3 hours are offered cold snacks and those on flights lasting from 3 to 4.5 hours are offered hot meals with two options to choose from.

Discount Class tickets include from 10 to 20 kg free luggage allowance, the amount of luggage allowance depends on the ticket fare.

Passengers are also offered daily newspapers and have the opportunity to purchase duty free products onboard. Participants of Transaero Privilege frequent flyer program travelling in discount class receive 50% of the points awarded for full-service flights.