I'm looking for a flight from StPetersburg to Dusseldorf and was using Kayak.com and AirBerlin and Luftansa were the only flights it would show. But then I tried another web-site (flyCheapAbroad ?) and they showed a direct flight from STPB to Dusseldorf on Rossiya Airlines that would work much better for me. Anyone know why Kayak.com would not have the Rossiya flights? Or have any experiences flying Rossiya?
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1600 posts
Not all low cost carriers show up on the major booking engines.
Have you ever seen Southwest show up on any search on expedia, travelocity, etc?
Sorry, no actual experience with this airline. You can find a little info on them on Wikepedia.
Posted by
dallas, tx, usa
1358 posts
Over the years I have read about Russian airlines in general. I remember negative reports about them.
Most air line experts have said in the past to avoid Aeroflot because of the age of their aircraft. Do a search for Rossiya Airlines and read all you can. See if their planes are new.
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
368 posts
Here you go:
Rossiya Fleet Age
Apparently they only have a few Tupelevs left in their fleet, so that is a good thing. Rest of the fleet is made of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Average age is 10.7 years (which is not that bad). The Boeings are the oldest in the fleet at around 15-19 years.
Still some concerns with Easter Euro and Russian aircraft in regards to maintenance schedules and pilots that I am sure is mostly media biased, but I wouldn't worry too much.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
I probably shouldn't post this, it relates to aviation safety in Russia, which is the general topic of the OP, but I guess it isn't going to make the nervous about flying folks feel any better. I emphasize that I am not suggesting this will happen with the specific Russian airline being asked about in the original post, who had nothing to do with this 1994 USSR crash. I also emphasize that this kind of accident, the cause of it, has never happened in a US or European aircraft and could not happen now that children are not allowed in the cockpit. Here's the NY Times write-up of what happened to an Aeroflot Airbus in 1994 with 75 souls on board Aeroflot Airbus Crashes After Captain's Son is allowed to sit in his Dad's seatHere's the first paragraphs of the story, and you can click above to get the whole story:"The cockpit voice recorder on an Aeroflot jetliner that crashed in Siberia last March confirms that the pilot's teen-age son was at the controls when the plane began to dive, published reports said today. A transcript of the tape printed in the magazine Obozrevatel shows that the Russian crew nearly managed to save the Airbus plane and the 75 people on board, but that it was hampered by the presence of children and its unfamiliarity with the foreign-made plane. That analysis was supported by an analysis by a Russian aviation expert published in the newspaper Rossiiskiye Vesti. Everyone on the flight from Moscow to Hong Kong was killed in the crash on March 22."