Travel Notes

Travel Briefs

Aeroflot buys Western

Aeroflot Russian airlines announced it is planning to order 10 Boeing 737-400 jets, costing between $25mn and $30 mn each, with the aim of improving its passenger fleet. This move angered Russian aircraft makers, in particular the order-starved Kazan Aircraft Making Plant in Tatarstan, whose workers have not been paid for eight months. The conflict was finally defused when Aeroflot agreed to buy the plant’s TU-214 aircraft, but only after they were upgraded and certified. However, Aeroflot has not cancelled altogether plans to buy the Boeings. In addition, the airline has ordered 15 collision avoidance systems from Collins Commercial Avionics, a unit of the US company Rockwell International. According to Eugene Machaek, Collins program director, this was their second order  from Aeroflot, which had already bought 30 units at a cost of about $15 mn. The Russian airline  plans to equip a total of 50 planes with the system.

All-female compartments

Russia’s Transport Ministry has announced the introduction of optional single sex compartments on the country’s railroad network. Because of the long distances involved, many Russians travel overnight by train in sleeper compartments. Until recently, the primitive reservation system prevented passengers from having any say over who they shared with. The new ‘Express’ computerized system will now enable women to choose to share with other women. The Ministry cited passenger requests in making the decision, but played down the complaint factor, though many women suffer harassment from (often drunken) men on trains.

Taxis block Moscow street

A group of 20 licensed yellow taxis blocked traffic outside the Moscow City Government Offices and honked their horns for 10 minutes in protest at gypsy cabs taking their business. Chastniki (private drivers) have for a long time been a feature of Russian city life, but flourished during difficult economic  times and after the collapse of the state taxi monopoly in 1991. Several firms started running licensed taxis only last year, but with higher prices than the gypsies, they find competition difficult. Unlike chastniki, taxi drivers pay a daily fee to a company to hire the cabs and pay taxes on their earnings, with the result that operating a licensed cab is much more expensive than running a private car.