Originally Posted by
lemonski
We've booked our first trip to Russia, and we need to go to Volgograd to begin with (there's a good reason
). Hope some experienced Russian travelers can give us some advice.
1. We land at LHR. As far as I can see, our options are to fly direct to DME on BA, and then make our way to SVO-2 (is this right?) to get a domestic flight to Volgograd OR
We fly some other airline that lands at SVO-1. Are there any direct flights? All the airlines I've checked fly via a city in their home country, making the trip much longer than the BA one.
In fact, it's the other way round - SVO2 is international and you can fly there direct from LHR on SU. SVO1 is domestic - that's where your SU flt to VOG would depart from.
Originally Posted by
lemonski
2. The BA flight we've looked at arrives at DME at 04:55 and there is an Aeroflot flight leaving SVO for VOG at 09:10. Is this sort of connection plausible i.e. clear customs and go DME-SVO in that time?
It's barely doable - and pretty expensive as the trains don't run so early in the morning and you'll have to take a cab. Don't try it
Note that BA is not your only option. BD and UN fly from LHR to DME, too, and SU flies to SVO2. I'm not sure about UN (Transaero airlines) but both SU and BD are considered superior to BA on that route. See the
Grrrr Moscow thread in the BA section of Flyertalk
S7 have two daily flights from DME to VOG. SU is way better, but the difference is not that great to warrant the trek from DME to SVO1. I'll second
bcmatt - if the schedules cooperate, go with S7
Originally Posted by
lemonski
3. Are there any (decent) airlines that operate from an international destination direct to Volgograd? Trying to avoid Russian airlines!
No. VOG is a small regional airport and it's purely domestic. I don't really think they have more than 5 flights a day, most of these to Moscow.
If you'd wanted to start your Russian trip, say, in Samara - you could have taken Czech Airlines via PRG and then just take a cruise down the Volga to Volgograd from there. But VOG in itself is really awkward to fly to.
Originally Posted by
lemonski
4. Is Aeroflot decent? (and safe!) Do they operate new Airbus/Boeing metal?
Yes on both counts. On international routes they are at least on par with any European or US carrier (and better than most, especially in short-haul J). They operate brand new Airbus 319/320/321 on short- and mid-haul but there are several old Tupolevs left in the service, including to VOG - it's not exactly their flagship route so it will stay with the Tupolevs for the rest of the year.
Originally Posted by
Medic1
Once we get them on board with electronic tickets like the rest of the world, it will be even better.
They've already implemented electronic ticketing across much of their network (incl LHR/SVO/VOG), with the rest to follow by the IATA deadline in a week from now ^