OREANDA-NEWS. December 16, 2011. Vilnius International Airport (VIA) expanded its winter schedule with a new route: the first direct flight on the route Domodedovo – Vilnius – Domodedovo was launched today by Transaero Airlines (UN), Russia's second largest airline.

Transaero Airlines General Director Olga Pleshakova said: "The start of operations to Vilnius Airport marks another very important step in diversifying Transaero's route network and building connections between European cities and destinations across Russia, the CIS and far beyond. We're are pretty confident that passengers of our new flight will take advantage of not only direct service to Moscow but our transfer facilities at Domodedovo airport as well. There's no doubt this will contribute in our further development, allow Transaero to maintain it's position of the fastest growing airline among top-five Russian carriers and further enhance our market share".

Russian flights from Vilnius to Domodedovo Airport are scheduled four times a week – on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The time of arrival to Vilnius on Mondays and Sundays – 11.40, the time of departure from Vilnius – 12.30; the time of arrival on Thursdays – 16.40, the time of departure – 17.30; the time of arrival on Saturdays – 8.30, the time of departure – 9.20. The flight duration to Moscow is 1 hour 40 min.

"With reference to passenger flows between Vilnius and Moscow, the priorities of the tourism sector, and opening business opportunities as well as considering the record-high passenger traffic on the route to Russia the previous summer, we have been working hard to launch another route to Moscow," the Managing Director of Vilnius International Airport Tomas Vaisvila said.

Initially Transaero Airlines will operate its flights to Vilnius Airport with Boeing 737-500 aircraft providing passengers with a choice of three classes: Business class, Premium Economy and Tourist Economy.

Transaero Airlines is the first and currently the largest private carrier in Russia. Transaero's fleet consists of 73 aircraft. According to the German Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Center (JACDEC), the company ranked in the top 10 safest carriers among the world's 60 largest airlines. Transaero serves 116 routes in Russia, Europe, Asia, Africa and America.