Russian budget airline Pobeda raises fares on international routes

Russian low-cost carrier Pobeda (Victory) Airlines announced that it will raise the fares from abroad to Russia by €25 (about 1800 rubles) due to the inclusion of the cost of registering customers at airport counter in the fare.

The representative of Pobeda said that the fare increase will start from the beginning of ‘winter season’ on October 28.

According to her, the increase in airfare is a forced measure and is due to the fact that the Moscow City Court on October 8 satisfied the claim of the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office and forbade the air carrier to charge an additional €25 for check-in at the airport counter when flying to Russia.

Airline’s representative also added that if in Russia such a fee is immediately included in airport fees and air fare, at foreign airports airlines pay for check-in separately.

“Each foreign airport sets its own registration fee at the counter, on average it is about €25,” she said. She added that the average price of a one-way Pobeda ticket on international lines last season was 4,500 rubles (about €63 or $70).

Pobeda is the first Russian low-cost airline and is an Aeroflot project launched in September 2014. In addition to Pobeda, Aeroflot includes Aeroflot, Russia and Aurora airlines.