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Travel agents are looking for an alternative to the problematic carrier Wind Jet

08:07, 17 августа 2012

Travel agents, whose clients were meant to fly out with the Italian company Wind jet, which has now cancelled all flights, are actively searching for new options amongst carriers. On Monday in St Petersburg an agreement was achieved with the airline company “Rossia” regarding the transportation of Russians stuck in Catania (Island on Sicilia) – all up around 100 people. Initially there were 156, but some passengers were able to be scattered onto different flights and returned to Russia last Sunday. At the same time, all expenses that were used for their accommodation and flights will be covered by the travel agents.

 

 

As the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel industry Irina Tyurina reported, around 120 tourists whose vacation was meant to start last Saturday flew into Catania on the same flight. Market players also announced that they were ready to refund money if people suddenly chose to decline their trip, because of the fact that their holiday time might have been severely shortened. “Aside from this, it was decided that the link that Wind Jet used to hold together between St Petersburg and Catania will now be replaced by “Rossia”, but on Fridays and not on Saturdays as was done previously”, - added Ms Tyurina.

 

We’d like to remind you that on Saturday night (going on Sunday) Wind Jet cancelled all flights due to financial troubles. According to data from Italy’s aviation authorities, the bankruptcy of this company may affect up to 300 000 passengers all up, who bought tickets up until October. Wind Jet used to make close to 20 flights to Russia weekly, transporting over 10 000 passengers. The main designated airports were Bergamo, Verona, Catania, Palermo, Pisa, and Rimini. It became known on the eve, that the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Italy established a task force that dealt with questions regarding Russian passengers who flew with Wind Jet some place that affected passengers could contact.

 

Travel agents in Moscow are also currently holding discussions with alternative airline carriers. The PAC Group company announced that they already have an agreement with the airline company “UTair” which will execute Wednesday’s planned flight Rostov on Don – Rimini. The PR manager of the travel agent Marina Limar  told us that a further 140 people are meant to head into Italy on the same flight. And tourists who are at the moment holidaying in Italy will fly out on the way back. Ms Limar also made it clear that discussions regarding a future flight program out of Rostov are still being held.

 

The commercial director of the “Jet Travel” company Maxim Pristavenko told RATA-news, that all of the travel agents summer programs, starting from next Saturday will be carried out using a different airline carrier. There is already a corresponding agreement with the Kazan based carrier “Ak Bars Aero”, and aside from this the Airline Company “Kuban” is being looked at as an alternative partner. At the same time Mr Pristavko highlighted, that problems concerning the Italian airline carrier were already known last week, and because of this discussions were being held with one of Russians airline companies regarding the possibility of substituting Wind Jets flight to Pisa. However, on Saturday Wind Jet nevertheless carried out its flight, although with a 4 hour delay. There were no tourists from “Jet Travel” on the flight that was meant to be carried out on Tuesday. “All up all of the difficulties and financial losses lie on the shoulders of travel agents. The maximum threat that our tourists face is delays”, - highlighted Mr Pristavko.

 

In the company of RATA-news “Tris-T” explained that their nearest Saturday flight with Wind Jet to Catania, on which a total of 160 tourists were meant to fly to their holiday destination, is going to be carried out by the Italian company Blue Panorama. It’s entirely possible that this airline company will also carry out the future program of Wind Jet. The general director of “Tris-T” Svetlana Bashkirtseva is actually now in Sicily, where she is holding talks with Blue Panorama and the Italian aviation authorities.

 

At the same time experts don’t rule out the possibility that Wind Jet will continue to fly. The company’s management has been holding talks with Italy’s largest airline carrier Alitalia since March, and the result of these discussions may be the buying out of the bankrupt company. As we have already reported, the next stages of discussions which will be held with participation of Italy’s National Civil Aviation are planned for tomorrow.

 

Maxim Pristavko pointed out, that it’s not profitable for Italy’s authorities for hundreds of thousands of tourists to be stranded all around the country and outside of it because of lack of transport:  “The planes are there and the tickets have been sold. It’s much better if the company continues to fly. It would be easier for Italy’s Ministry of Transport to appoint a temporary director of Wind Jet, who will go on to control its future operations”.

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