Which "domestc" airlines would you experienced travelers suggest to get around in the FSU countries. Or is there a better and cheaper way of getting around?
Yeah.... you would think that it would be an easy thing to fly between FSU countries but it isn't.
Flying between Chisinau and Donetsk for instance requires a stop over and possibly a transit visa in Moscow. Or you can pay around $3,000 for a connecting flight through Athens.
Good luck flying say from Riga Latvia to Chisinau Moldova (capital cities, both of them), I once tried to do that and found I would have about three stopovers/plane changes all over Europe. That was about two years ago.
Where exactly are thinking of flying? Start with that and you will get some good info.
I personally fly into Kiev, use as a base,then have a good choice of places to fly to. Aerosvit is largest in Ukraine.
There is a cheaper way...trains!!!
beemer,
But Aerosvit do not operate those domestic flights, they just sell seats. The flights are operated by such airlines as ARP 410, South Airlines, Donbassaero, Dniproavia, Motor Sich etc. Aerosvit only operate B737 & B767 aircraft.
Well technically beemer the size of a company, an airline, is based on the number of staff it employs, of how many aircraft, how many seats, it operates and not on how many 'codeshare' agreements it may have.
Now according to a trade website here is Aerosvit's fleet:
Antonov An-24B 1
Antonov An-24RV 1
Boeing 737-200 1
Boeing 737-300 2
Boeing 737-400 6
Boeing 737-500 1
Boeing 767-300ER 3
Total 15
This does make it Ukraines largest airline all be it international airline, their nearest competitor are Ukraine International who operate:
Antonov An-24RV 1
Boeing 737-300 4
Boeing 737-400 5
Boeing 737-500 3
Total 13
Just last October, I flew twice on those Aeroflot tupolev's just two months after one
went down in southern Ukraine in August, I closed my eyes and prayed the whole time. I thought about if my will was in order and if I had clean underwear. And I don't wonder anymore why Russians applaud when the planes land!!
Jet, A good pilot breaks the ground and heads for the wind, a bad pilot breaks wind and heads for the ground. :-)
To the author, there is actually quite a host of airlines you can use. Air Moldova sub contracts a lot of their work to Austrian Air. Turkish flys in and out of Kishinev and although it is a little back tracking, you can link back to Istanbul and then to Kiev, Riga, Odessa, Moscow or wherever you like. Inside Ukraine there is a hundred and one flights going everywhere every day. Best just to do those internal ones as you go from the airports
Russia has a few choices, if you are completely nuts, there is always Aeroshit, but frankly I wouldn't bother. S-7 (Siberian airlines) covers most of Russia now and uses largely older A-310 airbus and I have found them very useful. Krasair is another I have used. There is quite a few and its a bit of a lucky dip as to how the standard of service is, but frankly, for a 2 or 3 hour flight, who the hell cares.
By far the cheapest and most reliable way to travel in Russia is by train. If you are trying to work out time delays etc, work on the trains averaging about 50-60 kms / hour and you'll be fairly close to the mark. Generally they are spot on time and you don't want to be late or you'll be looking for the next one. BTW, they all work off Moscow time. Personally, I don't mind the train thing, bit slow, but lots of routes you can overnight and effectively save the cost of hotel or apartment prices for a night.
The trains always make for a few interesting encounters. :-) Ukraine has a few bus companies also which apparently work well, but I hate buses period, so I tend to avoid them.
I would tend to suggest that you work one country, at the most two in each trip or you'll spend most of your time travelling and inside airports.
Flying on those local small planes with the propelers (I have no idea what they're called) in Ukraine was the scariest thing ever. I couldn't believe it whenever it would land safely. Everytime I would be thankful to be alive. I flew on them 4 times and I wouldn't want to fly on them again anytime soon.