Russian Airline Aeroflot has made plans to link Moscow and Cuba as early as next year using a brand new Airbus A350!
What are the details?
Starting as early as September 1st, 2020, Aeroflot plans to fly a new A350-900 from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport to Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.
Cuba and Russia have always had a close partnership (especially during the Cold War), and Cuba has been a popular destination for wealthy travelers from Moscow. The route will have these specific details:
Outbound Flight Number: SU150
Departing Moscow (SVO) at 0710 AM
Arriving Havana (HAV) at 1240 PM
Inbound Flight Number: SU151
Departing Havana (HAV) at 1425 PM the same afternoon
Arriving Moscow (SVO) at 0900 AM the next day.
The route will operate five days a week, skipping Monday and Wednesday. This route is currently flown by an A330-200 which will be replaced by the A350.
What will the service onboard be like?
The new A350 aircraft variant for Aeroflot has not yet actually been released to the market, so is still a concept until it's first flight next year. But we do have a few rumors of a potential new business class cabin onboard.
At the moment, Aeroflot offers a somewhat outdated business class product, featuring B/E Aerospace Diamond seats laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration. As yet we have no confirmation as to what seats will be used for business class in the Aeroflot A350, but The Points Guy suggests they are going to go with a B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat.
This new seat will mean that the A350 will have 28 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle access for all passengers on board, plus if we are lucky, a screen door.
There will also be three rows of premium economy on board (in a 2-4-2 configuration) and a standard 9-across economy cabin (3-3-3 configuration).
Aeroflot currently has fourteen A350 aircraft on order (and an option to extend that up to 28). Originally, the airline expected to have them up and running by 2018 but poor financial results resulted in the new aircraft having their delivery date pushed back to 2020. These 14 new aircraft are slated to replace Aeroflot's aging A330 fleet, with seven next year and another seven by 2021.
"Aeroflot’s fleet currently has 252 aircraft, including 49 SSJ100s, 79 A320s, 36 A321s, 22 A330s, 47 B737s and 19 B777s." - Russian Insider
It is likely that the aircraft will be used for Moscow to New York flights, with other destinations such as Beijing, Seoul, and Miami featuring in Aeroflot's plans. The A350 will also be used to supplement frequency on popular direct routes.
What do you think of this new route? Will you be flying to Cuba direct from Moscow?