Russian low-cost carrier Pobeda today revealed plans to relaunch domestic services on the 1st of June. The airline, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, plans to resume 73 routes within Russia next month.

Pobeda is a low-cost subsidiary of the Russian airline Aeroflot. This low-cost airline first took to the skies in December 2014. Since then, it has grown to carry over seven million passengers a year. However, the airline was grounded in March, like many others around the world, as a result of the global crisis.

As countries around the world look to slowly lift restrictions, Pobeda has announced that it will return to the Russian skies on the 1st of June following two months of suspended operations.

Returning to the skies

Pobeda is initially targeting a return to the skies above Russia in June. According to a press release in Russian, the airline will gradually resume flights from the 1st of June. This is a different plan of action from Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair, who is planning to resume around 1,000 daily flights in a short time frame.

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The low-cost carrier is a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot. Photo: Getty

Initially, the Russian low-cost carrier will focus on its domestic operations. Indeed, Pobeda has said that 73 routes will initially relaunch. Tickets for the flights will go on sale tomorrow (14th of May 2020). There is still no word on when international flights will resume.

It seems as though Pobeda is keen to get back to filling its aircraft with passengers. The airline stated that over three-fifths of tickets on sale for June would be priced between 499 and 2999 rubles ($6.74 to $40.49). This will mean that the average ticket price for the remaining summer 2020 season will be around three times lower than what it was last year.

Usual tariffs are too high

Pobeda's CEO, Andrei Kalmykov, commented that despite being known for its low prices, the usual fares were still too high for some given the current situation. Translated from Russian, he said:

“Pobeda is a recognized and unchanging price leader in Russia, but we are well aware that now, even at our usual tariffs, people simply do not have the opportunity to buy tickets. "We have done tremendous work in order to reduce the average ticket price by two to three times in the summer season of 2020 relative to last year's season."

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The airline's operations have been suspended since the 1st of June. Photo: Anna Zvereva via Flickr

Pobeda has made a great effort to list how much cheaper individual routes will be. For example, flights from Cheboksary to St. Petersburg will be, on average, 3.4 times less expensive than last summer. Meanwhile, Kazan to Moscow flights are 1.8 times less expensive on average.

It seems that Pobeda is looking to lure people into traveling once more following two months of no flights. However, at this time, the airline doesn't appear to have detailed if masks will be necessary or social distancing enforced. IATA suggests that all passengers wear facemasks, but doesn't recommend social distancing onboard flights.

Have you flown with Pobeda Airlines before? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.