Nordavia may resume flights to Tromsø

“Nordavia may resume flights from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk to Tromsø, as well as a new flight to Finland,” says Vladimir Gorbunov, CEO of Nordavia to Kommersant.

He says reopening of the Tromsø route will be decided within some few months and depends on when Nordavia receives the two twin-turboprop ATR 42 planes in order.

Nordavia shut down it’s previous flights to Tromsø in October 2014 after a troubled dispute with Norwegian aviation authorities on the terms of licence for the Pskovavia operated An-24 aircrafts.

The Arkhangelsk-Murmansk-Tromsø flight was the only linking northwest-Russia with northern-Norway.

Cross-border regional support

Arkhangelsk Governor Igor Orlov has for years encouraged Nordavia to resume flights to Tromsø.

In a recent meeting with the head of Nordavia, Orlov said interaction with the airline is of strategic nature.

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“For us everything that happens with Nordavia is important. The airline brings quality of life to the region. North is impossible to imagine without air transport,” Igor Orlov said according to a report from the meeting.

No more business-class

Today, Nordavia has a fleet of nine Boeing 737s. With recently refurbished cabins that got rid of business-class and now have single-class 135 seats, the aircrafts are too big for the demand on a possible Tromsø route.

The Italian-French built ATR-42s have seating, which varies from 40 to 52 depending on the model. That is same size at the former An-24 aircrafts flying the route to Tromsø.

In July, Nordavia announced cooperation with Russia’s low-cost airliner Red Wings. Aimed at developing joint networks, ground services and reduce overhead costs, Nordavia will change business model towards becoming a low-cost airline.

New aircrafts

While Red Wings has a route network in southern Russia, Nordavia mainly have flights from northwestern Russia.

In addition to two ATR-42 aircrafts, Nordavia also mulls other new aircrafts, including the coming Russian manufactured MC-21 short- to mid-range jet aircraft.