Aeroflot Russian International Airlines has sacked two senior managers as part of an ongoing battle for control of the airline. Aeroflot, Russia's leading airline, has also launched an internal audit, which Moscow sources suggest may reveal evidence of financial mismanagement.
Commercial director Alexander Krasnenker and his deputy Leonid Itskov were dismissed by the airline's general director Valery Okulov in a move which will weaken financier and Aeroflot shareholder Boris Berezovsky, with whom the two were associated.
In November last year Krasnenker launched a bid to consolidate shares under his control, while the Aeroflot Tour Group - allegedly linked to Berezovsky - offered "significant" awards for shares placed under its control.
Okulov is due to reveal plans for a new management structure later this month. Part of the reorganisation is expected to involve cutting his deputies from six to two, while forcing through measures aimed at greater financial transparency.
Aeroflot has revealed preliminary traffic figures that indicate that it carried 4.445 million passengers last year and generated 16.417 billion revenue passenger kilometres (RPK).
The passenger total represents a 13.9% increase on 1997, with the carrier reporting a load factor of 57.8%. Cargo volumes were 84.9 thousand tonnes, with 1.990 billion revenue tonne kilometres, 7.9% down on the previous year.
Aeroflot says that 43.4% of passengers flew on relatively new aircraft, including Airbus A310s and Boeing 767s, 737s and 777s.
Source: Flight International
