VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Savelyev, let’s discuss the company’s performance in January-June 2011, the situation during the peak-load summer vacation season in mid-July and prospects for the July-December 2011 period. Let’s also discuss the renovation of your air fleet, as well as the company’s performance following our meeting where we discussed issues, which should be familiar to you, that are linked with the merger of our airport infrastructures. These issues are directly related to the activity of Aeroflot. Please.
Vitaly Savelyev: Mr Putin, I would first like to say a few words about the company’s performance in January-June 2011. I'm happy to tell you that the company continues to show dynamic development. We have certain basic parameters by which we can assess trends in development -- in particular, air traffic. In the past six months, we have carried 6.24 million passengers. During the same period in 2010, we carried 5.1 million passengers. This constitutes a 22% increase. Incidentally, the entire civil aviation market has expanded by about 10%. In effect, we are growing two times faster than the market.
The second point concerns our passengers. We have increased the number of flights. From January-June 2010, we had operated some 46,000 flights. Currently, we operate 55,000 flights. This is an additional 9,000 flights compared with 2010, an increase of over 20%.
The company's revenues have been substantial. During this period we have earned some 47.5 billion roubles, a 22% increase. The net corporate profits totaled 2.5 billion roubles for this period.
Best of all, we have retained our passenger capacity levels, one of the most basic parameters of any airline’s activity. We have maintained 75.5% passenger capacity during the past six months. This has been difficult to achieve under conditions of expanded air traffic and flights. This figure was 75% last year, but this means absolute profitability, which enables us to implement the parameters that are in our business plan.
Aeroflot is now one of the three most rapidly developing companies in the world. The survey was conducted by Skytrax (a British consulting company that assesses the quality of services provided by various air carriers and airports). The survey involved 19 million passengers from 100 countries and 200 airlines. I should add that we also attended the International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, and were rated the best Eastern European airline. These parameters come with a great deal of responsibility, and we believe that we must maintain these current trends.
Vladimir Putin: Are you improving consumer services?
Vitaly Savelyev: Yes. We have conducted an independent survey of consumer services. Moreover, the Bain & Company international management consulting firm has assessed the quality of Aeroflot services. We scored 44% on the Net Promoter Score, a method used to assess consumer loyalty. This is almost two times higher than the Lufthansa and British Airways indexes. We have held the first place in Europe in terms of economy-class and business-class consumer service quality for the third consecutive season. The quality of our food was rated fourth in the world. We have introduced a number of completely new and innovative solutions that enable us to say with confidence that the quality of our consumer services is up to the mark.
Vladimir Putin: What kind of solutions?
Vitaly Savelyev: For instance, the ability to check in by telephone, a service called MobileCheckIn. We have also introduced WebCheckIn, whereby you can check in online. Passengers can choose their seats without leaving their homes, and can check in and board 20 minutes before take-off. We have improved in-flight conditions for passengers. We have replaced special systems, and now offer nearly 200 films, including films with Chinese and Japanese subtitles, as well as audio-books and games. That is to say, we have done quite a lot for our passengers. We have also improved the quality of food and drinks being served onboard.
Vladimir Putin: Who prepares the food?
Vitaly Savelyev: We have a controlling stake in our own subsidiary company, Aeromar, a catering company that we co-own with our German partners who have a 49% stake. Now everyone takes part in the process of preparing food, including our regular customers and the press. The Aeroflot Board and I test the menus ourselves.
Vladimir Putin: They probably choose the tastier food to serve you.
Vitaly Savelyev: It may be a paradox, but I’m the only one who test economy-class food because everyone prefers business-class dishes. But we change the top-quality menu every three months, which helps us maintain our high standards.
Vladimir Putin: Good. And what can you say about the air fleet’s renovation?
Vitaly Savelyev: There is good news on this front. We have received our first Sukhoi Super Jet 100, which has been flying since March 16.
Vladimir Putin: On what route?
Vitaly Savelyev: We currently operate two routes, to St. Petersburg and Ufa, and we will be flying to Sochi and Nizhny Novgorod, as well as abroad, in the near future. The aircraft is now operational. This is a truly good innovation that we have long awaited. Under a contract, we hope to receive another nine Sukhoi Super Jets, as our air fleet continues to fill out. We are happy that Russian planes are in no way inferior to their foreign equivalents, and have now started operating.
Mr Putin, if you will allow me, I would like to say a few words about Aeroflot’s development strategy. We have taken to heart your advice to behave like Saint Francis of Assisi, to till one's own land plot. All of us at the airline have been "tilling" here for over two years. As a result, we have obtained a number of competitive advantages over our foreign partners. First of all, we operate the newest air fleet in Europe. This is a major competitive advantage that we are utilising, as many people still associate our company with the Soviet-era Aeroflot. Second, we have become the first Russian air carrier to evaluate our brand.
Vladimir Putin: How are we to understand that yours is the newest air fleet in Europe? What is the share of your fleet that this refers to, and when were they manufactured?
Vitaly Savelyev: We operate airliners of the Airbus A-320 family. All of them are less than five years old. You might call them “middle-aged.” We recently received 11 aircraft that are less than two years old. We operate ten Boeing B-767 aircraft that are more than ten years old. We will gradually decommission these B-767s that are now in service. We also operate six Russian-made Ilyushin Il-96 airliners, which are more than 15 years old. But they are in good condition, and have been recently completely upgraded. In general, we will continue to expand our air fleet. As you know, we have received 50 Boeing B-737 airliners from the Russian Technologies State Corporation. We are currently assessing the Next Generation series. We have signed contracts for the delivery of eight B-777/Triple Seven airliners, which will be arriving. We will eventually have 16 B-777 aircraft, the most sophisticated and dependable planes in their class. We have also ordered 126 Russian-made planes. Before the end of the year, we hope to sign some framework agreements on specific parameters and specifications of aircraft that we are due to receive. This could be accomplished during the MAKS-2011 International Aviation and Space Salon.
Vladimir Putin: You will receive Russian, medium-haul planes, correct?
Vitaly Savelyev: We have signed a contract for the delivery of 30 Sukhoi Super Jet 100 airliners. We are ready to sign a contract for another ten planes, increasing their fleet to 40 planes.
We are ready to sign a contract for Antonov An-148 aircraft. Our subsidiary company Rossia has six such aircraft. These aircraft are making a good showing. We'd also like to sign a contract for about 20 planes.
We are counting on the Antonov An-158 aircraft, if it becomes available. The Russian aircraft industry also wants to manufacture the Irkut MS-21, which we hope will also appear. We have made an order and are waiting for proposals in response regarding deadlines, specifications and prices. If these planes meet market requirements, we will of course order them, with the goal of expanding the share of Russian-made planes to 40% of our air fleet by 2020.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
