The air transportation market in Russia, according to experts, can be simultaneously characterized as promising and as being in the stage of struggle of the main players with strong crisis tendencies. The depreciation of the ruble has had a particularly strong impact on the activities of airlines - a significant percentage of aircraft are purchased or leased in foreign currency, and ruble revenues within the country are not increasing in commensurate proportions. Among the airlines, which, according to analysts, have all the resources to withstand the crisis - Orenburg Airlines. The carrier has an interesting, according to experts, business model, and what is especially important - its passengers actively leave positive feedback on thematic portals.
Now Orenair is focusing on the charter market. However, the plans of the company's management, which are largely determined by the realities of the market, include a reorientation of activities towards the promising domestic transportation market. What are the chances of Orenair to master the newsegment? What is the degree of sentiment in the opinions of experts regarding the prospects for the development of the airline? How much competition can there be for Orenair from other market players?
Orenair general information
Orenair was founded in 1932. The first airline on which flights began to operate connected Moscow and Tashkent. The main base airports for its aircraft are located, in fact, in Orenburg, as well as in Moscow. Orenburg Airlines is a subsidiary of Aeroflot. That is, 100% of its shares belong to the largest Russian air carrier.
Chelyabinsk-Sochi flight is one of the recently opened passenger transportation routes operated by Orenburg Airlines OJSC. It has been operating since the end of December 2014. Planes of Orenburg Airlines will take off from Chelyabinsk on Sundays, and from Sochi, in turn, on Saturdays. There is information that the company will continue to expand its presence in the market by increasing routes connecting Russian regions.
Let's look at Orenair's fleet structure.
Fleet
Orenair has a fairly large fleet of aircraft - about 30 aircraft. Its composition is fully formed by Boeing aircraft. The bulk of the aircraft are medium-haul Boeing 737-400, 737-800, as well as several Boeing 777-200ER aircraft capable of performing long-haul transcontinental flights.
Economic indicators
The company "Orenburg Airlines" in the period from January to November 2014 carried 2.8 million passengers. This indicator turned out to be 3.7% less than what was recorded for the same period in 2013. The company's financial results were also very modest. In particular, the company's net loss for the three quarters of 2014 amounted to more than 3.5 billion rubles. True, in terms of revenue generation, Orenair is among the leading companies of the Aeroflot holding: the air carrier earns about 7 thousand rubles per passenger. Moreover, according to some public information, out of 3.5 billion rubles. losses of the order of 1.5 are the debts of other companies (which ones - we will consider a little later) to Orenburg Airlines.
The bulk of Orenair's passenger air transportation services are provided under charter contracts. About 35% of regular flights are performed. It can be noted that Orenair tickets are sold to more than 255 international charter destinations. True, some experts believe that due to the likely decrease in the activity of Russians in terms of foreign travel, a change in priorities in the distribution of resources by the airline can be expected.
There is a version that Orenair now operates regular flights only in cases where tourist destinations are idle or are not in high enough demand due to seasonal factors or other reasons. However,Analysts believe that the company may activate domestic flights in the near future due to a decline in the activities of travelers who are used to visiting foreign resorts: the dollar exchange rate against the ruble has grown, and it is cheaper for Russians to relax in their homeland.
At the same time, as many reviews testify, Orenair is a provider of comfortable service in terms of flights to popular destinations in warm foreign countries.
Home airports
The main cities where the Orenair fleet is based, as we said above, are Orenburg and Moscow. There is only one airport in the first city, in Moscow the airline operates two - Vnukovo and Domodedovo. At the same time, it can be noted that, having initially planned transportation at a particular airport, the company may decide to use another as the main one. For example, in autumn 2014, Orenair opened several new destinations from Moscow. The main airport was originally "Domodedovo". But already in November, the location of flights changed in favor of Vnukovo. This airport now operates flights to Rostov-on-Don, Omsk, Kazan and other major Russian cities.
Many passengers, as well as experts, did not like the fact (this is evidenced by the comments and reviews present in the media relevant to the aviation industry): Orenair offered passengers to return tickets that they already had on hand. That is, if, for example, a person booked a seat on a flight to Kazan from Domodedovo, then upon the fact of changing the airport to"Vnukovo" he had a need to buy a new ticket. Old, however, while the airline allowed to pass without charging any fines.
Fleet modernization and personnel policy
We noted above that Orenair's fleet is based on Boeing aircraft. There is information that the airline will replace them in the foreseeable future, and in some cases withdraw the corresponding category of equipment from use. Employees on flights operated by this type of aircraft are expected to be transferred to other structures of Aeroflot, the company that owns Orenair. According to representatives of the airline itself in the media, no staff cuts are expected.
A simple example: the interaction between Orenair, as well as structures such as the Dobrolet low-cost airline and the Pobeda airline that replaced it. As you know, the Russian low-cost airline, due to some difficulties, stopped its work in 2014. As a result, the Dobrolet crews went to work for Orenair. This allowed Aeroflot to employ valuable personnel. In turn, when a new airline, Pobeda, began to operate instead of Dobrolet, flight personnel began to transfer to this company from Orenair. Thus, Aeroflot has engaged Orenburg Airlines as a reliable partner at a difficult time for one of its subsidiaries, namely Dobrolet. Actually, it will be interesting to study this precedent.more.
Help "Dobrolet"
In the summer of 2014, the Dobrolet company, designed to solve the problem of providing Russian passengers with the opportunity to fly inexpensively, fell, according to public information, under foreign sanctions. Their nature was that "Dobrolet" carried out passenger transportation to the Crimean peninsula, which, according to the foreign partners of the Russian company, became part of the Russian Federation illegally. As a result, restrictive measures were taken against the low-cost airline, such as the cancellation of leasing contracts, insurance contracts, and car maintenance agreements. The airline, which had just launched preferential flights on destinations gaining popularity among Russians, found itself in a difficult position.
Due to the political factor, the carrier was forced to curtail its activities. However, soon after the information about the difficulties of Dobrolet, information began to appear in various sources that Orenburg Airlines would come to the aid of the Russian low-cost airline. Reviews of experts and analysts regarding this scenario were generally optimistic. Orenair had a ready fleet and access to the necessary infrastructure.
True, Orenair was only able to help Dobrolet on a limited number of routes. The directions that the airline agreed to serve from Orenburg are the Moscow-Simferopol flight in both directions, as well as the flight from the capital to Volgograd and back. It was assumed that Orenair will carry about 65.5 thousand passengers. Dobrolet clients. Regarding other low-cost flights - to Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Ufa, Kazan - passengers were refunded the cost of tickets.
Note that many experts were not surprised that it was Orenburg Airlines (analysts' reviews confirm this) that were chosen as Dobrolet's partner. The first reason is that both airlines have a common owner, Aeroflot. The second is that, according to experts, a significant part of Orenair aircraft was already available for use as part of domestic flights. The third probable reason, according to analysts, is that the planes used in Dobrolet were the same series that are used in Orenair, Boeing's medium-haul aircraft. That is, the crews of the airliners who worked in the low-fire could easily transfer to the planes of Orenburg Airlines.
Passenger reviews
What is the degree of sentiment that reflects the reviews published by passengers of the airline? Orenair, according to many tourists, is a carrier that, above all, pays attention to a competent pricing policy. The cost of the airline's services is considered (based on subjective views) by many passengers to be moderate. Orenair's scheduled flights, according to the company's customers, are quite competitive in price with offers from other carriers in the regions where the airline operates.
Many people are impressed by the company's readiness to ensure the comfort of passengers, in particular inaspect of baggage transportation. So, for example, the company, having announced the introduction of a new route - "Chelyabinsk-Sochi", which we noted at the beginning of the article, promised that passengers on this flight would be able to take skiing, snowboarding, and hockey equipment on the plane completely free of charge. While most other airlines allow you to do this subject to an additional charge.
Prospects
Thus, there is a noticeable trend on the part of the airline's customers, reflecting the desire of people to leave positive feedback on thematic portals. Orenair in terms of passenger satisfaction is a carrier that is likely to compete with the largest Russian and international airlines. However, what do experts say regarding the assessment of the prospects for the development of this brand of the air transportation industry?
According to some analysts, the company's growth dynamics will largely depend on external factors. This is also acknowledged by the leaders of Orenair themselves. Above, we noted one of the reasons for the crisis trend - the depreciation of the ruble, and as a result - a decrease in tourist activity. At the same time, the airline is forced to make rental and lease payments in dollars and euros. Thus, the position of business is under threat from two aspects at once.
Experts believe that despite the fact that Orenburg Airlines receives good reviews from its passengers, the company's market prospects in the foreseeable future will probably not be characterized as promising. Needmaintain current positions, analysts say, adapt the business model to crisis conditions.
In search of a new development model
Many experts are impressed by the fact that Orenburg Airlines (reviews of many analysts confirm this) is an example of a company that does not sit still in a difficult market situation. In particular, the carrier's management, according to experts, is looking for new market segments - it is studying the possibility of reorienting flights from charter destinations to domestic ones. The necessary infrastructure conditions in Russia for this, analysts believe, are there. Regional airports, experts believe, will be happy with the growth in the activities of air carriers. An example of one of the successfully implemented projects for the transfer of flights to domestic destinations is the opening of a route to Sochi, which we have already talked about.
In some cases, similar aspirations of airlines can be met by market players of a related profile. For example, it is known that the Aerofuels company, which supplies fuel to carriers in Kurgan, has expressed its readiness to make discounts for Orenair when operating flights from the marked settlement to Moscow.
The company itself plans to develop a strategy to optimize the business model. Airports in various Russian regions are being studied, prospects for the payback of certain flights are being analyzed, bases of agents are being created that will sell air tickets.
Competing in new markets
There is an opinion among experts thatOrenair may face significant competition in new market development destinations, in particular in the domestic domestic segment. Thus, other strong market players, such as, for example, Nordwind, which also specializes in charter flights, also expect to occupy a significant niche in the segment of regional flights. The reason is the same as in the case of the revision of Orenair's business strategy - a decrease in the activity of Russian tourists traveling abroad.
Many experts believe that the concept of business development, which Orenair can move to, will thus be close to most other airlines specializing in charter destinations. Moreover, as some analysts estimate, the domestic segment of transportation is actively growing. At the same time, experts believe that the capacity of the relevant market may not be as high as airlines want to see it. Russians traditionally prefer to travel within the country by train. Despite the fact that airline fares are generally comparable to those for rail transport, many experts believe that the reorientation of citizens to travel by plane in Russia may proceed at a rather slow pace.
Tourism factor
Prospects for the development of charter airlines, including Orenair, may be complicated by the crisis in the field of activity of direct partners in the so far flagship industry - tour operators. Many of the relevant profile companies inhave gone bankrupt in recent years. A significant number are experiencing severe financial difficulties. Some of the major players in the travel industry are known to have very large debts to Orenair. Litigation is underway and it is not known whether the debtors have enough resources to pay off Orenburg Airlines. And without these funds, experts believe, investing in new markets for the airline can be a very difficult task.
