Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Aeroflot and Cathay ink codeshare

Hot News off the Press! It appears in Air Transport Intelligence which is password protected and therefore I cannot provide the link.

Aeroflot and Cathay ink codeshare
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Oneworld carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has signed a codeshare deal with Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot in the wake of the new air services agreement concluded between Hong Kong and Russia last month.

The agreement is to become effective on 1 June following Aeroflot's doubling of direct flights between Moscow and Hong Kong. The Russian flag-carrier has increased its weekly frequency on the route to six services, using Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft.

Aeroflot and Cathay Pacific will link their frequent flyer programmes under the agreement.

Their deal lifts to 20 the number of carriers with which Aeroflot co-operates internationally. At present the Russian airline provides scheduled flights to 88 destinations in 42 countries.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/intl/aboutus/press/0,3845,31342-104550,00.html

Sad for the spotters to see the IL9 disappear from HKG

Er, isn't it rather a long time since Aeroflot flew anything other than Boeing or Airbus to HKG? That's certainly all I have ever seen there in their colours in the last few years.

You are right Chris,

According to the flight planner it should be a 76.
But 2 weeks ago I spotted a IL9 at CLK.
And I actually see it quite regularly.
Check on airliners.com, looking there it seems very regular at CLK.

It might be russian, but it is a beautiful plane!

[This message has been edited by miles4all (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

I have to go to Moscow for a meeting in the near future and discovered that the Cathay flight is operated by Aeroflot. And there are no other non-stop choices. The prospect fo flying with Aeroflot is worrying enough that I'm considering doing this trip by Finnair via Helsinki instead, but that increases journey time from 11 hours to 15 hours.

Does anyone have recent experience on this route to share, or advice?

I have to go to Moscow for a meeting in the near future and discovered that the Cathay flight is operated by Aeroflot. And there are no other non-stop choices. The prospect fo flying with Aeroflot is worrying enough that I'm considering doing this trip by Finnair via Helsinki instead, but that increases journey time from 11 hours to 15 hours.

Does anyone have recent experience on this route to share, or advice?

I haven't flown this route, but when I was looking at flying it, the prices for CX were very expensive. It was much cheaper to fly via Singapore on Singapore Airlines.

I flew on this route last summer with Aeroflot HKG-SVO.

The experience wasn't entirely positively. Service was in typical Russian manner - no warmth and smiles. Food was mediocre, no personal in-seat entertainment. The worst part was probably immigration at SVO airport - not enough staff, lack of roped lines, and agents that would suddenly leave their desk without any notice/reason - just pretty much chaotic and unpleasant. Would I fly with another airline if I had the choice? Yes - but Finnair is definitely a larger de-tour than necessary. Maybe this question is best answered with the Aeroflot forum?

Would I fly with another airline if I had the choice? Yes - but Finnair is definitely a larger de-tour than necessary. Maybe this question is best answered with the Aeroflot forum?

Helsinki - Moscow is 1hour 40minutes by plane so about the same as Shanghai - Seoul and considerably less than Hong Kong - Shanghai.

I would say that after December 11th when the new transit lounge will be open at HEL Finnair is a good option getting from Hong Kong to Moscow (St.Petersburg/Jekaterinburg). If flying earlier I might opt for another carrier.

The extra benefit that AY offers are several flights a day on the HEL - SVO - HEL leg so if something gets cancelled they can get you on another departure. There is also a daily train connection between the two cities in case the airport in either gets closed.

I flew on this route last summer with Aeroflot HKG-SVO.

The experience wasn't entirely positively. Service was in typical Russian manner - no warmth and smiles. Food was mediocre, no personal in-seat entertainment. The worst part was probably immigration at SVO airport - not enough staff, lack of roped lines, and agents that would suddenly leave their desk without any notice/reason - just pretty much chaotic and unpleasant. Would I fly with another airline if I had the choice? Yes - but Finnair is definitely a larger de-tour than necessary. Maybe this question is best answered with the Aeroflot forum?

I did try searching the Aeroflot forum but most of the experience there is dated.

Helsinki - Moscow is 1hour 40minutes by plane so about the same as Shanghai - Seoul and considerably less than Hong Kong - Shanghai.

I would say that after December 11th when the new transit lounge will be open at HEL Finnair is a good option getting from Hong Kong to Moscow (St.Petersburg/Jekaterinburg). If flying earlier I might opt for another carrier.

The extra benefit that AY offers are several flights a day on the HEL - SVO - HEL leg so if something gets cancelled they can get you on another departure. There is also a daily train connection between the two cities in case the airport in either gets closed.

I am flying there in November. Can I ask why the new transit lounge makes such a difference? I flew via Finnair to Germany early this year and recall that the business class lounge was adequate - nothing special but good enough for a 2 hour transfer.

I am flying there in November. Can I ask why the new transit lounge makes such a difference? I flew via Finnair to Germany early this year and recall that the business class lounge was adequate - nothing special but good enough for a 2 hour transfer.

The new lounge will be around 1000m2 and include the usual gimmicks, all-day food buffet, dedicated wine bar, shower rooms etc.

But adjacent will be a 600m2 spa with four saunas, several pools and massage services. I could imagine arriving at SVO after visiting there might make the latter a bit more bearable. ;)

WOW talk about necroposting. Anywho, I wonder how long the Aeroflot codeshare would last considering S7 is joining OW and CX was planning to fly to DME anyway a couple of years back as a tag on to the MAN service.

Would be lovely to see CX fly DME and most do-able with the 33B.

Do yourself a favour and take AY.

The new lounge will be around 1000m2 and include the usual gimmicks, all-day food buffet, dedicated wine bar, shower rooms etc.

But adjacent will be a 600m2 spa with four saunas, several pools and massage services. I could imagine arriving at SVO after visiting there might make the latter a bit more bearable. ;)
This might be better than the QF SYD T1 F lounge !

I've flown around ten CX/SU codeshare roundtrips in a mix of J and Y.

On the ground: SVO airport check-in opens two hours before departure. The airport itself is poor, but a new terminal will soon improve things. In Moscow, they're particularly strict on luggage weight. One kg over and they sting you, and no, you cannot pull rank using your DM/GO cards. hey even weigh hand luggage. SVO lounge opens two hours before departure and is quite ordinary.

In the air: in J, they are fantastic. I do speak Russian, so maybe that helps. Real Russian hospitality, excellent food (though they never seem to vary the menu). They used to do a fabulous Solyanka soup - when's the last time any airline served soup on board? All dishes are plated in the galley, no tray or trolley service. Various courses come out on demand - so fast eaters could be wolfing down sweets while others are still with their soup. Seats are nearly flat, but no patch on CX's old or new J. IFE? Dig-E-Player with some films, cartoons, TV shows. Nothing special. Plus they have the overhead monitors anyway.

In Y, things are a bit different. Service is surly, three average to poor meal choices (two for breakfast), seats are reasonable, but the headrest doesn't adjust. However, they are still more comfortable that CX's horrible new shell Y seat. IFE on overhead monitors. Limited drinks runs. Alcohol must be purchased.

Aircraft used are 763s, but vary in setup and interior config. What never varies is the generally tatty appearance and smelly toilets. CX in that regard is better.

I have stopped flying the CX/SU combo in favour of SQ which, from Australia, is cheaper, offers better connections and much, much better in-flight service, better IFE, and uses DME which is a superior airport compared to the old SVO.

NG1Fan

I've flown around ten CX/SU codeshare roundtrips in a mix of J and Y.

On the ground: SVO airport check-in opens two hours before departure. The airport itself is poor, but a new terminal will soon improve things. In Moscow, they're particularly strict on luggage weight. One kg over and they sting you, and no, you cannot pull rank using your DM/GO cards. hey even weigh hand luggage. SVO lounge opens two hours before departure and is quite ordinary.

In the air: in J, they are fantastic. I do speak Russian, so maybe that helps. Real Russian hospitality, excellent food (though they never seem to vary the menu). They used to do a fabulous Solyanka soup - when's the last time any airline served soup on board? All dishes are plated in the galley, no tray or trolley service. Various courses come out on demand - so fast eaters could be wolfing down sweets while others are still with their soup. Seats are nearly flat, but no patch on CX's old or new J. IFE? Dig-E-Player with some films, cartoons, TV shows. Nothing special. Plus they have the overhead monitors anyway.

In Y, things are a bit different. Service is surly, three average to poor meal choices (two for breakfast), seats are reasonable, but the headrest doesn't adjust. However, they are still more comfortable that CX's horrible new shell Y seat. IFE on overhead monitors. Limited drinks runs. Alcohol must be purchased.

Aircraft used are 763s, but vary in setup and interior config. What never varies is the generally tatty appearance and smelly toilets. CX in that regard is better.

I have stopped flying the CX/SU combo in favour of SQ which, from Australia, is cheaper, offers better connections and much, much better in-flight service, better IFE, and uses DME which is a superior airport compared to the old SVO.

NG1Fan

Thank you. Just what I needed to know. I'll be in J but the combination of tatty seats, smelly toilets, old IFE and inferior seats plus an extremely expensive airfare will drive me to Finnair as Guy Betsy suggested. BTW they do serve soup in J (as does SQ). Makes me wonder why CX doesn't deploy its own metal on this route.

I have heard an OW airline executive mention that normally current route status actually reflects the situation at least around 20 years ago, that being the average time to negotiate major changes/new routings from scratch.

Hong Kong might not have enjoyed the closest of relationships with the Soviet Union around 1989? ;)