OREANDA-NEWS. On 6 February 2008 was announced, that in 2007 Transaero strengthened its leading market position in terms of stable long term development. Including the growth results for 2007, Transaero passenger turnover volume has increased more than tenfold over the past 5 years. Cargo turnover has gone up by a factor of 11 and passenger traffic has grown by a factor of 8.4 times in the same period.

“All achievements in 2007 are the results of the consistent application of Transaero's development strategy. Over the past five years all of our main indicators have been constantly growing, and this has solidified Transaero's leading position in the industry in terms of stable growth. This year Transaero is also Russia's civil aviation leader in terms of growth in absolute figures. 2007 has been a record year for us and has been extremely important in furthering growth, network development and overall product quality,” said Transaero Airlines Director General Olga Pleshakova.

Year end results for 2007 make Transaero the second largest carrier in Russia for international routes, with total RPK at 11,759 million passenger km and passenger number reaching 3.242 million passengers. The carrier is also the first Russian airline to fly to five parts of the World – Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia.

Transaero has the largest long haul jetliner seating capacity of any domestic Russian airline. Seven new aircraft were added to the carrier’s fleet in 2007, including one Tu-214, one Boeing 747-300, four Boeing 737-500s, and one Boeing 747-400. The Boeing 747-400 is a cutting edge aircraft in Russian aviation for its longer flight range and higher level of comfort compared to other aircraft in its class. Currently Transaero operates a fleet of 30 aircraft – one Tu-214, 8 Boeing 747s, 7 Boeing 767s and 14 Boeing 737s.

Transaero greatly expanded its flight activity in 2007 and now serves more than 80 routes. The company opened 12 new regularly scheduled routes, including flights from Moscow to Kuala-Lumpur, Guangzhou, Sochi, Khabarovsk, Lyon, Basel, Sydney (via Hong Kong), Mauritius (via Johannesburg), and from St. Petersburg to Shanghai, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. In addition, the airline increased the number of regular flights to Novosibirsk, Astana, Almaty and Tel-Aviv in 2007. Transaero launched new flights from St. Petersburg to Spain and Greece and from Novosibirsk to Thailand, India and China, and from Ekaterinburg to Bangkok. Transaero’s main is at Moscow Domodedovo International Airport, but in 2007 Transaero began operating several additional flights from Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Transaero began offering passengers e-ticketing in March 2007, becoming the first Russian airline to launch this service. Online check-in was added to this service in May. By the end of 2007, e-ticketing amounted to 65% of all Transaero tickets sold online. On some routes, mostly European destinations, more than 85% of passengers booked their flights with e-tickets.

In 2007 Transaero opened two new sales offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Transaero was also the first Russian airline to install self check-in kiosks in Domodedovo airport. The new Transaero information center opened at Moscow Domodedovo International Airport in 2007 is remarkable for its outstanding, attractive design.

To improve passenger service, Transaero began offering new in-flight entertainment media in 2007 – individual multimedia players that allow passengers to enjoy popular movies. Transaero is also the first Russian passenger carrier to incorporate European Union standards for customer compensation in the event of flight cancellation or overbooking.

Tranasaero also renewed their partnership agreement with the city of St. Petersburg for special airline services, offering discount fares to participants of the city’s social service programs and for special needs passengers.

In 2007 Transaero has joined UN Global Compact to express its commitment to aligning operations and corporate strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour rights and environmental responsibility.

At the end of 2007, Transaero had 3,600 employees.