OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2013. Transaero Airlines announces its operational results for 2012 which indicate the company's stable development and highlight new benchmarks in the airline’s history.

Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) increased to a total of 41,003 million, a 23.6% growth over 2011

Number of passengers carried reached 10,327,560, 22.2% more than in 2011

Freight turnover grew to a total of 4,072 million tkm, a 24.1% increase over 2011

Transaero delivered a total of 65,874 tons of cargo in 2012, up 28.3% from 2011

In 2012 Transaero's passenger traffic grew by 35% on domestic routes and by 19% on international in comparison with 2011.

In 2012 Transaero Airlines was named the Best Airline in the Eastern Europe by Skytrax agency. Transaero was also awarded with the prestigious ATW Airline Market Leadership Award. According to Airline Business, Transaero is the sixth largest air carrier in the world in terms of passenger traffic on routes to leisure destinations. In accordance with Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Center (JACDEC) rating of January 2013, Transaero ranks the 16-th on the list of the world's biggest 60 airlines and the 6-th among European carriers in terms of airline safety.

In 2012 Transaero carried on with its ongoing fleet expansion and renewal program. Within the past year 20 aircrafts were added to the carrier's fleet: five Boeing 747-400s, two Boeing 777-300s, two Boeing 767s and eleven Boeing 737NGs.

As of the end of 2012, the total number of the airline’s aircraft reached 94, including twenty four Boeing 747s, thirteen Boeing 777s, fifteen 767s, thirty nine 737s and three Tupolev 214s. Transaero has the largest fleet of long-haul wide-body jetliners in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe. In 2012 Transaero firmed contracts for acquisition of brand new Airbus A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft.

Transaero continued its route network expansion with new flights to a number of domestic and international destinations. Within its summer program Transaero served more than 160 routes and within the winter program - 140 routes. The airline continued to increase frequency of its flight, primarily on domestic routes. In 2012 the airline launched regular flights to Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Yerevan, Paris, Milan, Venice, Los Angeles, and Malaga. Transaero pays particular attention to developing direct non-stop services from Russia’s regions to popular international leisure destinations. In 2012 Transaero served as many as 40 such routes. For the first time in its history Transaero launched international flights from a number of Siberian and Ural cities operating Boeing 747s.

In 2012 Virgin Atlantic and Transaero Airlines signed a codeshare agreement on the Moscow – London route, with flights bearing the shared UN/VS code. At the same time flights of Virgin Atlantic between London and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Orlando are performed under the joint UN/VS code.

Today Transaero performs flights from all three international airports in Moscow – Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo. This significantly expands travel opportunities available for passengers.

Transaero Airlines plans to set up a new modern transit center at Vnukovo airport to optimize its connecting flight schedule for flights between cities in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, the US and Western Europe for convenience and comfort of passengers.

Transaero Airlines has taken an important step to enhance travel possibilities for its passengers at Vnukovo airport through a multilateral agreement signed with UTair Aviation on interline connections and through fares for transportation via Vnukovo Airport in Moscow.

With a view to enhance its inflight customer services Transaero started to introduce high speed broadband Internet and mobile communications services on board.

In 2012 Transaero started a comprehensive aircraft interior refurbishing program which includes full redesign in all classes on all aircraft in its fleet, replacement of all seats, plastic details and more. In addition to this, it is planned to replace seat covers on some aircraft with Alcantara textiles.

Transaero permanently enhances its onboard catering. In 2012 a new Russian-style tea ceremony was introduced for the airline’s passengers traveling in Business and Imperial classes.

A new updated version of the airline’s mobile web-site Transaero.Mobi was launched in 2012.

Transaero is adherent to the social responsibility principles. In 2012 the airline was honored with the “Best Company to Work For and Make Carrier At" title.

In 2012 Transaero was the only Russian airline to be awarded with the highest rating for corporate social responsibility (AAAs) by the Reputation rating agency. The Transaero’s Corporate Charity Program was ranked among top three best programs in the Russian Federation according to the results of the research by Russia’s business newspaper Vedomosti and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Olga Pleshakova, General Director of Transaero Airlines, said: “Transaero’s operational results for 2012 set new benchmark in the airline’s history. The company achieved the best results in terms of transportation volumes, innovative technologies introduction and ground infrastructure expansion. All the airline’s decisions were focused on the interests of our passengers. This provided for significant expansion of our clients’ opportunities in 2012. For the first time Transaero Airlines carried more than 10 million passengers in a single year. I would like to express gratitude to all passengers who trust our airline as well as to Transaero’s highly qualified personnel who are committed to justify the confidence of our passengers."