Six Russian regional carriers to be rolled into Aeroflot

Russian Transport Minister, Igor Levitin, stated several Russian regional carriers could be rolled into a single state-owned joint-stock company and then eventually merged with Aeroflot (UPI/Reuters/Moscow Times, 02-Feb-2010). The regional carriers could reportedly include St Petersburg-base Rossiya (and carriers merged under it) as well as Kavminvodyavia and Orenburg Airlines, which would initially be jointly managed by the state-owned Russian Technologies and Aeroflot. The plan could reportedly be completed by the end of 2010 and would increase Aeroflot's domestic market share from approximately 15-18% to 30-35%. An existing plan to merge Rossiya and the AirUnion carriers (including Vladivostokavia, Saratov and Sakhalin Airlines) into a new carrier, tentatively named RosAvia, under Russian Technologies has been delayed a number of times and has been strongly opposed by Aeroflot. The AirUnion carriers were acquired by Russian Technologies in Sep-2008.