Regional airline to be created to serve tourism in North Caucasus

The creation of a new regional airline and the modernization of the

airport and fleet is needed to service tourist flow to the North

Caucasus. The governments of the South Russian regions, together with

the Resorts of the North Caucasus(RNC), are discussing issues of aviation

logistics.

The development of tourism in the North Caucasus, Adygea and Krasnodar

Territory will see an increase in passenger traffic of 300-400%, the first 

Deputy General Director of the RNC, YuriTyrtyshov, told reporters.

It is therefore proposed to renovate six existing airports (in

Krasnodar, Maikop, Mineralnye Vody, Nalchik, Beslan, and Makhachkala)

and to build four new zones (in Derbent, Matlase, Mamison

Zelenchukskaya). An increase in the fleet is also necessary.

According to RNC, the region is facing the need for effective

regional airlines and with the launch of a tourism cluster it will

become an urgent necessity. "The flight from Makhachkala to Mineralney

Vody or from Stavropol to Sochi today is only possible through Moscow.

It's absurd, and pessengers have to suffer. So the idea of regional

airlines is now being actively investigated," Tyrtyshov said.

As part of the development of the logistics concept of the tourism cluster

in the South of Russia, representatives of RNC and North Caucasus

Federal District officials paid a working visit to a number of French

companies specializing in the manufacture of aircraft, and held talks

with representatives of the companies. The delegation visited the

factory in Toulouse of Airbus SAS, one of the world's largest producers

of passenger, cargo and military transport aircraft, and the

production of turboprop regional airliners of the Franco-Italian

company ATR. Russian representatives have discussed with their French

counterparts the possibility of cooperation in the field of regional

logistics, effective organization and delivery of traffic to the

tourist resorts of the North Caucasus. In Marseilles the delegation

visited the plant of the Franco-German company Eurocopter, whose

helicopters are used at most popular ski resorts in the world.

As Ahmed Balilov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of RNC said,

reasonable prices for airline tickets should be one of the advantages of

resorts in Southern Russia. While plane tickets to Sochi are so

expensive, "no one will ever come, even if we give free

ski-passes and lodging," he explained. Therefore, the French

experience of maintaining affordable prices for the majority of

tourists on air transport, including on helicopter transport, may

be of interest for Russia