Improving Customer Service and Brand Management

Aeroflot is one of the most recognisable brands both in Russia and globally. The Company successfully maintains its high international profile through a relentless focus on the customer experience of its services and the commitment of its highly professional marketing team.

SkyPriority branded priority airport services were rolled out in 2018 across the entire route network of Rossiya airline and in the departure airports of Aurora airline, the Group’s carrier offering services in the Russian Far East.

Aeroflot airline’s contact centre won international awards in 2018 for its high quality of customer service

Aeroflot’s History

In 1939, 20-year old Muscovite Elza Gorodetskaya became Aeroflot’s first flight attendant, serving on board the Moscow–Ashgabat flight. In 1954, flight attendants on Aeroflot’s international routes received their first uniform. In 1967, the Sheremetyevo airport established a separate Flight Attendant Service.

Key focus areas of customer service enhancements in 2018

Aeroflot conducts a number of annual marketing surveys to further enhance its services and the competitiveness of its product offering, as well as to improve consumer loyalty and customer satisfaction:

Another assessment of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) was carried out together with Bain & Company in 2018. Aeroflot’s NPS score has grown by over 50% since measurements first started nine years ago.

A customer satisfaction assessment was conducted as part of IATA’s Airs@t survey in the European market and under a wider joint SkyTeam Customer Experience Research project covering all member airlines.

Monitoring of compliance with Aeroflot customer service standards is carried out as mystery passenger audits to promptly identify and eliminate product- and servicerelated pain points throughout the customer journey. After four project waves (December 2017 to November 2018), the average level of compliance across the Company was 89.5%, with upward trends observed in metrics across all customer service stages.

Aeroflot airline’s NPS performance (%)

Aeroflot Bonus

Aeroflot Bonus programme was voted the winner in four categories at the Freddie Awards 2018

Aeroflot Bonus members (million)

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Aeroflot Bonus partners, 2018 (%)

Aeroflot continued to develop its Aeroflot Bonus programme, which offers its members an opportunity to earn free miles when flying. In 2018, the number of programme members increased by 24.3% to 8.3 million.

In 2018, we reduced the amount of miles required to purchase an award ticket and to upgrade travel class for a number of Aeroflot routes to Europe and within Russia, and launched a number of online services to increase mile redemption options for programme members. The programme members now have an online option to receive and transfer to other members up to 50,000 miles a year, upgrade their travel class using miles or upgrade vouchers, and exchange award tickets.

The number of the programme partners is steadily increasing, with 66 new partners joining the Aeroflot Bonus programme in 2018. The total number of partners was 190 as at the year end, including 20 airlines. The Company continued to expand its range of goods and products from non-industry partners available for purchase using bonus miles. Aeroflot Bonus partners include banks, hotels, car rental companies, online stores, retailers, and restaurants.

Special promotions are regularly offered, including co-promotions with partners, to raise the programme’s profile and attract more members. The Light Awards promotion was held monthly during 2018, whereby passengers could purchase award tickets using less bonus miles for certain Aeroflot routes. Miles Mania promotions were held, with the programme’s non-bank partners awarding members double and triple amounts of miles, the Make It in 72 Hours campaign was run, offering items from the Reward Catalogue with a 50% discount, and a number of other promotions. Aeroflot continued its partnership with Disney, attracting about 7,500 new members through The Nutcracker and the Four Realms film’s original play promotion.

Aeroflot Bonus Member Attraction service was launched on www.aeroflot.ru website and mobile website covering the booking, ticketing and checking-in customer journeys, and the online check-in procedure via the website was simplified.

Marketing communications

Aeroflot continued its marketing campaigns in 2018, launching a number of new initiatives. A special focus during the year was placed on sponsoring major cultural and business events in Russia.

Aeroflot supported Classics at the Palace Square gala of worldfamous opera stars held as part of Saint Petersburg’s 315th anniversary celebrations. In autumn 2018, The Company participated in the 8th Circle of Light Moscow International Festival held under the auspices of the Moscow Government.

Aeroflot acted as the official carrier for high-profile business forums such as the Russian Investment Forum, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and the Eastern Economic Forum.

An advertising campaign was held in autumn 2018 to promote new routes within Aeroflot Group’s route network, announce Aeroflot’s Best Business Class – Europe award in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards 2018, and advertise new full flat-bed seats for business class passengers in wide-body aircraft.

Aeroflot makes smart use of advertising tools to promote new routes, increase its brand recognition globally, and bolster demand for connecting flights between Asia and Europe.

A number of co-promotion campaigns were held throughout the year with airports in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, France, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Poland, and Italy.

Aeroflot actively adopts and utilises Big Data solutions to tailor targeted marketing communications in line with international best practice. Apart from traditional advertising channels, Aeroflot also employs direct marketing communications including email marketing to promote routes and bolster demand for its value-added services.

According to Brand Finance, the Aeroflot brand value grew by 3% to USD 1.5 billion in 2018. The combined value of Aeroflot Group’s brands (Aeroflot, Rossiya, Pobeda, and Aurora) totalled almost USD 2.0 billion.

Aeroflot brand value (USD million)