S7 expands at Moscow Domodedovo and adds Tokyo Narita from Vladivostok and Khabarovsk

• This summer season sees Russia’s largest domestic carrier S7 launch a total of four new routes; one domestic and three international. On 25 March, the oneworld airline expanded its presence at Moscow Domodedovo (DME) with daily services to both Minsk (MSQ) and Orenburg (REN). Flights to the Belarusian capital are offered using A319s and face direct competition from Belavia’s 28 weekly frequencies; Aeroflot offers further 21 weekly flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. The 1,500-kilometre routing to Orenburg, which is located near the Kazakh border south-east of Moscow, is operated by S7’s subsidiary Globus with a fleet of B737-400s. Orenair already serves the market with 21 weekly flights and, again, Aeroflot provides indirect competition with its daily services from Sheremetyevo. In addition to its Moscow expansion, S7 launched services to Tokyo Narita (NRT) from its base in Vladivostok (VVO), as well as from Khabarovsk (KHV). The two cities, respectively the largest and the second-largest in the Russian Far East, are now connected to Narita each with twice-weekly flights. A320s are used in both markets, and competition comes from Vladivostok Air, the region’s largest carrier, which offers respectively two and one weekly frequencies to the Japanese capital airport.