Sales
Aeroflot Group sells tickets both in Russia and abroad through a variety of channels, including Aeroflot airline’s website and mobile app. At its website, Aeroflot sells tickets both for its own flights and flights of Rossiya and Aurora subsidiary airlines operated under Aeroflot’s single airline code. Tickets are also sold through Aeroflot’s agents operating under direct agency agreements, agents participating in independent systems (BSP, ARC, Transport Clearing House (TCH)), own sales offices, and call centre.
Pobeda airline sells tickets independently through its own website, as well as online agencies.
Management of flight loads for services operated by subsidiary airlines under codeshare agreements enables PJSC Aeroflot to centralise management for sales, revenue, route network, and fleet planning across the Group.
The development of online sales channels continued in 2018, with the share of online and call centre sales growing from 33.4% in 2017 to 34.7% in 2018. Channel-wise, agents remain the biggest contributor to sales (60.0%) while own sales offices accounted for 5.3% of total sales.
In addition to tickets, customers can use the Company’s website to purchase value-added services, such as medical insurance, transfer from an airport, and other services. The sales of value-added services grew by 69.4% year-onyear in 2018.
Aeroflot airline maintains ongoing communication with agents to inform them of new routes and holds meetings with major agents. Special exclusive rates and reward programmes such as an additional distribution fee for agents in Russia and an additional incentive programme for international agents are used to incentivise agents with a potential to boost sales for new routes and high-capacity flights.
Note. Online sales and sales via the call centre are effected both in
Russia and abroad.
Sales in Russia
In Russia, Moscow (65.4%) accounted for the largest share in PJSC Aeroflot’s total sales in 2018, with Saint Petersburg (21.0%) and the Russian Far East also making a significant contribution.
The share of sales through agents in Russia was down year-on-year due to growing online sales. The share of sales through independent settlement systems totalled 69.3% while sales through agents operating under direct agency agreements remained almost flat at 18.9% and sales through own sales offices increased to 11.8%.
International sales
Agent sales through independent settlement systems (BSP, ARC, and TCH) comprise the bulk (90.7%) of PJSC Aeroflot’s international sales revenue. Sales through agents under direct agency agreements totalled 5.1%, and sales via own offices contributed 4.2%.
Split by region, Europe was the biggest contributor to Aeroflot’s total international sales in 2018 (50.4%), followed by Asia (24.5%), the Americas (12.1%), the CIS (8.0%), and the Middle East (5.0%).
Operations in international markets are focused on:
- ramping up ticket sales on international transit routes between Europe and Asia
- signing incentive fee agreements with major agents in the relevant markets to drive sales of tickets for Aeroflot’s flights
- developing corporate sales (targeting major foreign companies with assets in Russia or using Moscow as a transit point for business trips between Europe and Asia or Europe and the CIS)
- optimizing cost per ticket sold.
Corporate sales
PJSC Aeroflot continued developing corporate sales in 2018. Aeroflot’s corporate customers include a variety of oil and gas, finance, pharmaceutical, retail, food, construction, and other companies.
PJSC Aeroflot offers a variety of cooperation options:
- Corporate Loyalty Programme – a reward programme for SMEs (excluding travel companies)
- Direct agreement with PJSC Aeroflot for servicing corporate customers in Aeroflot’s sales offices in Moscow and other Russian cities
- Corporate agreement involving an agent for servicing corporate customers in one or more specialist travel agencies.
Building a shared airline retailing environment under the NDC programme
In 2018, the development of a project to build an integrated airline retailing environment to NDC standard was continued. The New Distribution Capability (NDC) programme is aimed at transforming the way air products are distributed and customising them to each customer’s specific budget and preferences. NDC enables customers to purchase all Aeroflot’s valueadded services directly via metasearch engines and agents accessing Aeroflot’s NDC gateway. The implementation of NDC will help the Company boost revenue through higher sales of value-added services and lower selling costs.
As at 2018 year-end, Aeroflot’s NDC system already comprised metasearch engines Skyscanner, Aviasales, Momondo, Dohop, Airinme, Yandex Avia.
