In-flight meals on all flights

Belavia is doing well. Are growing. Unless there are fewer charter flights. And so, last year the company carried 2,488,078 passengers, which is almost 20% more than in the previous year. The share of transit was 50%. Plus, the company conducted marketing research, which, in particular, expectedly showed that passengers continue to consider ticket prices high.

On price drop

General director of the company Anatoly Gusarov noted from the start that the increase in passenger traffic is associated not only with the closure of the sky between Russia and Ukraine:

- 80 percent of passengers who travel from Russia to Ukraine or vice versa use the Minsk airport. This was facilitated not only by the established relations between neighbors, but also by our work: service, tariff policy, opening of new routes.

Gusarov also noted that the company plans a summer schedule and is trying to reduce prices on popular summer routes - Turkey, Bulgaria, Spain. According to him, last year Belavia reduced tariffs by 10% on average in all directions. An example is a flight to Moscow Zhukovsky airport, the cost of a one-way ticket for which costs 34 euros. The CEO also noted that a possible rise in fuel prices will force the company to revise its costs, but this will not affect the cost of tickets. Belavia wants to keep the trend towards a gradual decrease in prices.

About visa-free regime

The country will soon introduce a five-day visa-free regime for citizens of 80 countries. Belavia does not pay special attention to this.

- We believe that the visa-free regime will make it possible to additionally increase the volume of work of the company, - says Anatoly Gusarov. - Belavia does not hold special events in connection with the five-day visa-free regime... At the same time, today is our route network, the number of flights and carrying capacity allow us to cope with the increase in passenger traffic closer to summer. If necessary, we will increase the frequency of flights to the main European destinations - Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt, London and others. At the same time, we did not notice much activity in terms of sales for the month since the signing of the decree. Maybe because it's February. This is a very slow month in transportation.

About loyalty

Regarding other news, Belavia has conducted research in cooperation with Eting Mark. The result is a 49-page Talmud. If it is thesis, in the past and the year before last, the company was mentioned on Facebook 21,869 times, and the most discussed events were rebranding and livery with World of Tanks. At the same time, the audience believes that the prices are still too high.

The study included a table of distribution of opinions by sentiment. 10% of mentions - negative, 9% - positive, 81% - neutrality.

- Most users do not have a clear opinion about Belavia, and this is a plus, - note the authors of the study. - The company has the opportunity to build relationships so that there are more loyal customers.

The tone of the beloved discussion about the high cost of tickets became more positive after the opening of a flight to Moscow Zhukovsky airport.

About the stewardess uniform

The company is growing by ships, which is why pilots will be recruited in Minsk in 2017. The update will also affect the uniforms of the crews. "Belavia" will announce a design competition, in which anyone can participate.

- The start of the competition will be announced on the website, - said the head of the flight attendant service Sergei Latushkin. - I'll reveal the secret. The winner will receive a visit to Milan Fashion Week. The airline will provide round-trip tickets and pay for tickets for all events. This is a fee from Belavia.

About nutrition

Of the changes already introduced - the power supply system. It has been completely redesigned and presented on all flights. Alcohol is offered only to business class passengers. These are Armenian cognac, 12-year-old Chivas Regal whiskey and a can of Heineken beer. Representatives of the company say that Belarusian manufacturers do not yet make such.

- From January 5, new rations of in-flight meals have been introduced. They differ for flights up to one and a half hours and flights over one and a half hours. Every six months, the diet will be changed, - noted the head of the flight attendant service Sergei Latushkin. - For economy class passengers who travel for more than an hour and a half, there are so-called casseroles with meat and side dishes, vegetable cuts and juices. Up to an hour and a half - juices, sandwiches or cold cuts, fish snacks, vegetables. In general, without providing hot meals, just cold snacks. Business class is a constantly hot meal of several types.

- We analyzed the reviews of passengers and users of social networks. We had a fairly modest food offer. But we considered it necessary and advisable to cut other costs, but try to provide passengers with a better service. And now we see that they are satisfied and pleasantly surprised, - added Gusarov.

Loyalty system

Good news for those who have an Alfa-Bank card. If you are also a member of the Belavia-Leader program, you will soon be able to activate the Alfa-Belavia service. It will allow you to accumulate points by making everyday purchases with the card. You can also earn points for purchases in stores Duty Free Helena & Valery at the National Airport.

Continuing the theme of the loyalty system, representatives of the company note that the maximum number of flights was made by a transit passenger - 183. As for direct passengers, the best indicator is 109 trips.

Meals on all flights, a competition for the uniform of flight attendants, a reduction in ticket prices and five more news from the main air carrier of Belarus.

At the annual meeting with journalists, the management of Belavia Airlines shared the latest news and plans for 2017.

DIRECT FLIGHTS TO BRUSSELS AND YEREVAN

The airline plans to open two new destinations this year. On April 27, 2017, the first direct flight Minsk-Brussels to Charleroi airport will take place. The tickets have already gone on sale and, according to the general director of Belavia, Anatoly Gusarov, are actively being sold out. Minimum cost per this moment - 175 EUR round trip. As Anatoly Gusarov noted, this cost is the lowest in comparison with the cost of Belavia's air tickets to the airports of neighboring countries.

Anatoly Gusarov

cEO of Belavia

The difference is about 100 EUR, so some passengers prefer a flight to Brussels, from where they by land transport get to Paris.

For reference. Currently, the cost of air tickets on the route Minsk-Paris-Minsk starts from 278 EUR, on the route Minsk-Amsterdam-Minsk - 237 EUR.

The schedule of Belavia's flights to Yerevan has not yet been announced.

In 2016, the airline opened direct flights to Palanga, Lviv and Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region.

INCREASE IN FLIGHTS TO PALANGA

In 2017, Belavia will start flying to Palanga more often - this resort on the Baltic Sea is only 1 hour away. From June to September there will be flights on Thursdays and Sundays, from July 18 to August 15 a flight on Tuesdays will be added.

In 2016, the airline increased the frequency of flights to Kiev, Odessa, Almaty, Ashgabat and Batumi.

ON-BOARD CATERING ON ALL FLIGHTS

From January 5, 2017, free in-flight meals appeared on all Belavia flights (excluding Vilnius and Budapest-Belgrade, where chocolate and water remained), and the menu was updated. Henceforth, it will be updated every six months. On flights less than an hour and a half, these are cold snacks (meat, fish, sandwich), vegetables, juices. On flights lasting more than an hour and a half, these are hot meals (meat and side dishes), vegetables, juices. In business class, at the moment, these are fish and meat dishes (for example, red fish with a side dish or veal, beef, pork with a side dish), caviar, shrimp, vegetables, juices. White and red wines, beer, Armenian cognac, 12-year-old whiskey are offered as an aperitif. By the way, on the airline's website, you can take a survey expressing your opinion about the new menu.

According to Anatoly Gusarov, in order to introduce meals on all flights, it was necessary to cut costs in other directions.

REDUCTION OF PRICES FOR AIR TICKETS

In 2016, the cost of air tickets decreased by an average of 10%. In 2017, the airline's management promises to continue this trend. In addition, the cost of flights on charter flights is decreasing, which will have a good effect on the cost of tours with departures from Minsk. As Anatoly Gusarov said, the reduction is planned for such popular destinations like Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain.

COMPETITION FOR CLOTHING DESIGNERS

The airline is about to announce a design competition for new form flight attendants - information will appear on the Belavia website, in the media and social networks. Anyone can take part, but first of all they are waiting for proposals from young designers. As a prize, they promise flights to Milan Fashion Week and admission to all events of the week.

NEW FEATURES ON THE SITE

You will soon be able to manage your bookings from personal account on the Belavia website, automatically return and exchange air tickets, book hotels and cars. In addition, the one click function will be introduced, which will speed up the process of buying tickets, as well as Rail and Fly.

PLUS TWO PARTNERS IN "BELAVIA LEADER"

Almost 70 thousand people today participate in the Leader airline loyalty program. This year, duty-free shop Helena & Valery and Alfa-Bank joined it. Each EUR spent in a store or on a bank card with the connected service "Alfa-Belavia" is transformed into 1 flight point for the airline's client. On premium cards of the bank, the tariff is 1.25 points per 1 EUR spent.

REPLENISHMENT IN THE AVIAPARK

Two Embraer-195 aircraft are expected to be added to the fleet. In 2016, the fleet was expanded with three new Boeing aircraft.

Belavia Airlines On February 7, she made a presentation summarizing the results of 2016 and shared plans for 2017. Travel portal VP.BY got acquainted with useful information and shares with you.

About achievements and results:

1. In 2016, the total passenger traffic of Belavia was 2,488,087 ppassengers that 19,1% more than in 2015. The positive trend was made possible by expansion of the route network and three big price cuts. The airline currently operates flights to 49 directions in 27 countries of the world and continues to open new flights. So, April 27. The plans are to launch a flight to Yerevan.

2. In 2016, the frequency of flights to Kiev, Odessa, Almaty, Ashgabat, Batumi increased.

3. However, despite the overall growth in passenger traffic, since 2014 there has been decrease in the share of charter passengers, however, the airline places bets on such destinations, like Turkey, Bulgaria and Spain, planning to lower prices on these routes.

4. The share has grown transitpassengers. Thus, according to the aviaport website, 80% of passengers between Russia and Ukraine travel through Minsk.

5. In 2016, almost 70,000 passengers from more than 100 countries of the world took part in the Belavia Leader program.

6. In 2016, the cost of air tickets in all directions decreased by almost 10%, and this trend will continue and develop this year.

About rebranding and website:

In 2016, the airline pleased with a change in corporate style and introduced a new cornflower blue design. In 2017, work will continue on the introduction of the new style, therefore Belaviawill soon announce competition for the development of a new uniform for flight attendants... Anyone can take part in the competition, and the main prize will be a trip to High fashion week to Milan (with air tickets and all paid events). You can follow the competition in airline social media.

In 2016, a new responsive design of the airline's official website.Thanks to promotions on the site, the number of online purchases of air tickets was increased by 24%. Online registration has increased 3.7 times.

So, for two days of the March campaign in 2016, Belavia sold 47,681 tickets through the website (on average, 20,000 tickets are bought on the website per month).

Belavia Airlines in 2016, the livery of which is made in white and blue tones with a cornflower on the tail. The new corporate identity of the company is also presented in the external design of the corporate elements of Belavia.

About the onboard menu:

From January 5, 2017 on flights was introduced new onboard menu. Now they will be fed on all flights. On flights up to an hour and a half, passengers will be offered cold snacks (meat and fish), vegetables, sandwich and juices. On flights for more than an hour and a half, hot dishes (meat and fish, side dishes), vegetables, snacks and juices will be served. Business class will have a wider selection of snacks and hot dishes (for example, a fish dish will include a side dish and red fish, and a meat menu will have a choice between pork, beef and veal with a side dish and vegetables; and a large selection of snacks - caviar, shrimps, cold cuts ). Also, only business class will serve alcohol.

The onboard menu will be changed every six months.

"We understand that the company must maintain feedback from passengers. We felt it was necessary to cut costs on other destinations and provide better food services and make it included in the price of the flight," - noted the general director of the Belavia airline Anatoly Gusarov.

About internet users

In 2016 Belavia together with the agency Eting markconducted a study of the attitude of Internet users towards the airline. We studied all mentions and posts on social networks, comments on forums and websites, left from January 1 to October 31, 2016. The total number of mentions of the airline brand was 21 896 ... Most of the mentions of the airline were in facebook, where 67% of comments were left by men and 33% by women aged 25-45 with an average income and above.

Most users discussed rebranding, new livery, new "cornflower blue" design, promotions and food. There were questions about the transportation of sports equipment, baby carriages, animals, users were interested in new destinations (in particular, flights to Munich). Belarusian Internet users highly appreciate the professionalism of the pilots, but the prices for air tickets are considered high. In general, since the spring of 2016, there has been an increase in positive feedback about the airline.

Head of Eting Mark agency Evgeniy Glyzdovnoted : "This is the first state-owned company to conduct such a study, and the collected data helped Belavia to get feedback and skillfully use the results. This will help to adjust the development strategy and correct shortcomings, thereby improving service and attitude to the brand, and competently planning marketing activities for 2017" ...

Today, October 3, new rules have been put into effect at Belavia - the Belarusian airline has started taking money from passengers who want to choose a seat on the plane. This was reported by a resident of Minsk Evgenia Pasternak.

In the comments, users noted that now online check-in has lost its meaning: the system seats passengers automatically, and even the check-in staff cannot put people together if the system has determined their seats at different ends of the plane.

“I sent my daughter to the competition. Tickets were bought in advance, but did not register online. The woman at the front desk said that from today on the choice of seats is paid and she cannot influence it. As the system was planted, so the children will fly away. Earlier, when we flew, we also checked in for the flight at the airport, and not online, we never had to pay extra for anything, "Nasha Niva quotes a woman from Minsk.

Belavia confirms the innovations, but detailed information do not share yet. They promise that all the details will appear today during the day.

UPD. Belavia commentary

“Since October 3, Belavia has been offering passengers the service of pre-selecting a seat in the cabin on the airline's website during or after purchasing a ticket.
In test mode, this service will be available on regular flights to Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Ashgabat, Baku, Barcelona, \u200b\u200bBatumi, Yerevan, Geneva, Larnaca, London, Paris, Tbilisi and back.

The preselection service, which is used by most foreign airlines, will allow passengers to book in advance seats with increased distance between the rows of seats (for example, rows near emergency exits and the first rows of economy class), which were not previously available for online booking. It should be noted that this is a new service that will be provided in addition to the already available free seat selection during the online check-in process on the airline's website.

For now additional service launched in test mode, but in the near future our passengers will be able to choose seats on all flights of the airline.
The cost of the service varies depending on the accommodation in the salon from five to 30 euros... The service is free of charge for members of the Belavia Gold Leader program and business class passengers. In case of technical impossibility to provide a seat of the paid category, the airline will reimburse the full cost of the service. "

Important: The seat selection service will be active until 24 hours before the flight departure. After the specified time, all remaining seats become available for check-in free of charge, with the exception of seats with increased distance between the rows of seats, as well as seats at the beginning of the economy class cabin. For these seats, the option to use the paid option remains up to three hours before the flight departure. Unsold seats of the named categories will be available for check-in at the airport counter free of charge.

1996 is a landmark year for the Belarusian civil aviation: On March 5, the National Airline Belavia was formed. For 23 years, the air carrier has become the leader in passenger air transportation in the country. And the company is not going to stop at what has already been achieved: it opens new routes, renews the aircraft fleet and pleases passengers with promotional offers. We remembered how it all began and appreciated the successes that Belavia has already achieved.

Over the past year, Belavia carried 3 million passengers, which is about 15 percent more than in 2017.

Climb

So, in 1993, by the decision of the Government, the Belarusian Association of Civil Aviation "Belavia" was created. 18 aviation enterprises entered it: airports, aviation detachments, training, information and computing centers, a logistics base. Three years have passed, and in 1996 the President signed Decree No. 126 "On improving the efficiency of aviation management." In accordance with the document, the Belarusian Civil Aviation Association “Belavia” was reorganized into the Republican Unitary Enterprise “National Airline Belavia”. Having received this status, the company eventually became one of the largest enterprises in the industry and provided more than 94 percent of air passenger traffic in the country.

Photo by Vitaly Pivovarchik.

Since 1997, Belavia has been a member of the IATA International Air Carriers Association, which proves its compliance with international standards. The company quickly established itself as a reliable partner in the field of air transportation. This is because it was not created from scratch: Belavia inherited Tu-134 and Tu-154 aircraft, highly qualified aviation specialists and already operating air routes. And General Director Anatoly Gusarov was not a newcomer to civil aviation either.

In 1996, Belavia flew in 24 directions. By 1997, flights were opened to Larnaca, London, Beijing, Rome and Istanbul. The geography of flights expanded and in 1998: Belavia introduced new route Minsk-2 - Prague - Minsk-2. Later, the company connected Minsk with such cities as Milan, Paris, Kaliningrad, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, and others by direct regular flights.

Now the airline's route network is already 52 lines - these are 28 countries of the world. In addition, regular flights to Kaliningrad in the summer are carried out from regional airports (Brest, Vitebsk, Grodno, Gomel). Last year, for the first time, direct flights were opened on four new routes from Minsk: Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Chisinau, Voronezh. The number of scheduled flights increased by 7.2 percent compared to 2017 and reached 31.4 thousand, - shares his achievements anatoly Gusarov, General Director of Belavia Airlines.

The plans include further expansion of the route network. From May 30, Belavia opens regular flight to Tallinn. The company also expects to add direct flights to Munich and Murmansk this year. It is actively developing passenger air transportation from the country's regional airports.

Replenishment in the air fleet

2003 became an important year in the history of the airline. Then the President approved the development program of the National Airline Belavia for 2003-2008. Its stages included modernization air fleet and the introduction of modern passenger service technologies. At a meeting dedicated to the state and prospects for the development of civil aviation, Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus will purchase latest aircraft foreign production, and also supported the proposal to participate in investment in civil aviation of Russian and foreign partners.

Now the airline's route network is already 52 lines - this is 28 countries of the world.
Photo by Pavel CHUIKO

- At the same time, first of all, the interests of the Belarusian people must be strictly observed, - the President noted then.

In October 2003, the first Western-made Boeing 737-500 aircraft arrived at the Minsk National Airport. In 2004, the second Boeing 737-500 was put into operation, and in 2008, in the course of implementing the state program for the development of civil aviation in Belarus, Belavia acquired two Boeing 737-500 and one Boeing 737-300 on operating lease.

Today the fleet of "Belavia"
has 29 aircraft
manufactured by Boeing, Embraer and CRJ.

Today, Belavia's fleet consists of 29 aircraft (five Boeing 737-800, six Boeing 737-500, seven Boeing 737-300, three Embraer 175, four Embraer 195, four CRJ 100/200). The company will continue to update its aircraft fleet, Anatoly Gusarov shares his plans:

- In particular, last year we leased three Embraer aircraft. This year we will lease four more Embraer aircraft. We plan to lease aircraft of the new generation from Embraer no earlier than 2021. We will decommission aircraft that have proven themselves well, but to a lesser extent correspond to today's realities. Credits for fleet renewal for favorable terms we got it thanks to the Belarusian Development Bank, as well as the Brazilian investment agency. Thus, we will renew almost half of the airline's fleet in three years. Aircraft of the new generation are highly fuel efficient and require lower costs to maintain airworthiness. This gives us the opportunity to reduce the cost of air tickets.

Priority is safety and comfort

The “cornflower-blue” image of Belavia, to which we are already accustomed today, appeared in 2016. On August 15, in honor of its twentieth anniversary, the airline carried out a rebranding - a Boeing 737-800NG in a new livery landed at the National Airport. The rebranding included not only a change in the logo and colors of the airline, but also a new approach to service and provided services. The main element of Belavia is the traditional Belarusian cornflower flower - it is considered a symbol of purity, friendliness and friendliness.

The number of passengers choosing the Belarusian airline is growing. So, if in 1996 about 400 thousand people flew on board "Belavia", then twenty years later, in 2016, the passenger traffic increased 5.3 times and amounted to about 2 million passengers.

During the existence of the airline, it has not had a single serious incident.
Photo by Vitaly GIL

- Last year, we carried 3 million passengers, which is about 15 percent more than in 2017. If we talk about the current one, we hope that the number of our passengers will be 3.3 million. A number of factors contribute to the growth of passenger traffic. In particular, new routes were opened, in a number of directions there was a decrease in the cost of tickets, an increase in the number of transit traffic, - share their plans with the airline.

Security remains the main priority of Belavia. During the existence of the airline, it has not had a single serious incident. The General Director of Belavia underlines:

- We will continue to do everything possible to ensure that passengers fly with our airline safely and comfortably.
Earlier these planes carried passengers of Belavia. Now aircraft decommissioned.

An-2 EW-70316.