Russia's national airline, Aeroflot, will not relaunch its sanctions-slain low-cost airline under the name Dobrolyot, Vedomosti reported Thursday, citing undisclosed Aeroflot sources.
Instead, the airline will operate a minimalist low-coster simply called Budget Carrier, flying four Boeing 737 aircraft until sanctions are lifted and Dobrolyot is free to fly once again. The company has chosen to not radically rebrand the line because the Dobrolyot name has already been established and proven to have value, explained to one of the sources cited by Vedomosti.
The new line would fly to Samara, Perm, Ufa and Volograd, Aeroflot chief executive Vitaly Savelyev told news agency RIA Novosti in August.
The Boeings will be subleased from Aeroflot, if the decision to go ahead with low-cost services is made, Vedomosti reported. A legal entity for Budget Carrier was created in September, and pending the issuing of an operator license from the Federal Air Transport Agency, the airline could begin flights in October, Vedomosti reported. Budget Carrier's CEO is Dobrolyot's Andrei Kalmyikov.
Budget Carrier will be based out of Sheremetyevo Airport until March 2015, a spokesperson for the airport told Vedomosti.
