MINSK, 9 March (BelTA) – Director General of the Belavia national air carrier Igor Cherginets told STV TV channel how Belavia is working through the coronavirus pandemic, BelTA informs.
“Dozens of airlines around the world went bankrupt because of the pandemic. Belavia did not stay idle for a single day. We continued to operate flights, although it was not easy. We focused on transit traffic, which has helped us survive. We have even started growing a little bit. I hope things will get back to normal soon,” Igor Cherginets said.
These days the airline operates seven flights a week to Russia (five to Moscow and one to St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don each). “Before the pandemic, we operated more than 150 flights a week. If you compare seven and 150 – you will realize the scale of the disaster,” he said.
However, Belavia did not only restore, but also increased the number of flights to some destinations. “Recently, we have made decisions on Vilnius and Tallinn. We want to fly more often to Warsaw, Uzbekistan. We have also launched a flight to Dubai, we fly there twice a week. A third flight will become available at the end of March, as this destination is very popular,” Igor Cherginets explained.
Speaking about the company's immediate plans, he said that the main task is to reach pre-pandemic performance indicators. “We will also try to penetrate new markets, like we have done with Dubai. We are set to add more flights, offer better connecting terms for passengers changing flights at Minsk National Airport. This will help us increase the number of transit passengers and destinations,” the Belavia chief added.
According to him, today the airline runs almost 30 aircraft. “In December, we received a new Embraer E195-E2, in the spring we expect two more aircraft of the latest generation - Boeing 737. The average age of our aircraft is 10 years. This is a very good indicator,” Igor Cherginets said.
