The decision was made a day before, when Avianova CEO, general director spoke to the leaders of Basel Aero, an airport arm of the Basic Element holding. The latter structure is controlled by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch. Basel Aero controls airports in Sochi, Krasnodar, Genejik and Anapa, all being large cities in the south of Russia.

Avianova CEO Andrew Pine said the airline had been choosing between seven suitable airports. Pulkovo of St. Petersburg was one among them. Although this airport had been favored, later on Avianova dropped its plans for St. Petersburg and even reduced frequency of the earlier opened flight services to that destination. Pulkovo airport appeared to be unable to offer good terms to the carrier, according to Avianova top managers.

At the end of the past year Avianova approached Pulkovo administration with idea to move in here some airplanes and use Pulkovo as their permanent base. The airline also wanted to hire local crews and expand its operations there. The idea was to serve 15 destinations out of the St. Petersburg airport. For some reason, the airport administration was not inspired by Avianova offering and refused to accept the terms. This prompted the airline to look for other opportunities. The search did not last long. Basel Aero welcomed the aggressive low cost carrier.

For a start, Avianova will move one of its Airbus A320 narrow body twinjets to Krasnodar. The airplane will be instrumental in expanding the route network originating in Krasnodar so that the number of destinations would rise to seven. Later on, the airline promises Basel to increase the number of destinations flown from another of its airports, -Sochi - to five. Also, the airline pledges to restart services to Gelenjik and Anapa, one flown but then temporarily closed.

The Krasnodar city airport will provide grounds for setting up a comprehensive technical base. The facility would be staffed by Avianova maintainers and engineers. The airline’s general director Vladimir Gorbunov further said that six or seven Avianova flight crews will be formed here and some more moved to Krasnodar from Moscow. The airline plans to move in here and commence flight operations in May 2011.

Initially, services will be limited to the Russian domestic sector. International services are being considered for a more distant future. That said, Avianova makes it clear that it will continue to focus on the domestic services. There share will continue to stay at 99%, according to the airline’s general director Vladimir Gorbunov.

In its turn, Basel Aero explained its interest in Avianova by the fact that the low cost carrier will open a new market niche and attract more passengers into the airport that otherwise would never come in here. The company made steps towards this promising partnership and agreed on terms the airline had put forward. Basel Aero said that “technologies of our companies fit in one another”. In particular, provision is made at the Basic Element’s airports for aircraft turnaround in less than 30 minutes. This makes these airports suitable for low cost carriers, very much like Pulkovo of St. Petersburg and Khrabrovo of Kaliningrad, currently the most popular destinations for the discounters. The 30-minute turnaround time at an airport is a major requirement of low cost carriers.

At the January 27 press briefing, speakers from both Avianova and Basel Aero shared the view that the newly entered agreement on opening of Avianova’s second hub in Krasnodar is a big step forward on the way of developing partnerships between the two companies. They also spoke in unison that it is a milestone for Avianova as it establishes its long-term presence in the south of Russia.

The history of relationship between Avianova and Basel Aero can be traced back to August 2009, when the airline performed its flight from Moscow to Sochi. Basel Aero general director Sergei Likharev expressed confidence in that the growing cooperation between his company and Avianova will be an additional stimuli for further development of Krasnodar city airport and the Krasnodar region on the whole.

Basel Aero head further said that the company has been investing its own funds into reconstruction and renovation of its airports. In his view, attracting low cost carriers into developing airports is a good way for further their development, as it has been explicitly demonstrated by the history of the discounter airlines in other parts of the world.

According to general director of Moscow-based Infomost consultancy, Avianova’s choice is logical and meaningful. Boris Rybak says: “A good discounter must have a hub outside of the capital cities. In that sense the Kransnodar city airport is a good choice, as it fits well into the low cost strategy. It situates well away from the capital city area, it has big growth ambitions coupled with fairly good development potential in the view of the upcoming sport events such as the Olympic Games, the Formula-1 and the Football Cup”.

Both the airline and the airport will benefit from strengthening their alliance. It will help them attract more customers. Besides, arrival of a well-functioning low cost airline will give residents of South Russia better conditions as far as air transportation services are concerned. With the advent of Avianova, Krasnodar airport will become more attractive for travelers, airlines and investors, Rybak believes.

There is one more thing that is also beneficial for Basel Aero. Another Russian low cost carrier, Sky Express is merging with Kuban Airlines. The latter is already present in the Krasnodar city airport. So, it is expected that the merger will also be interested in expanding its positions here and other regions in the south of Russia.

The airport of Riga, capital of Latvia, has set a good example of mutually beneficial cooperation between airports and airline discounters. Boris Rybak goes on: “Airbaltic started operations out of Riga and soon after its growing activities attracted Ryanair. Together, the two airlines not only managed to make Riga an attractive destination for tourists, but also helped the local airport increase its passenger flow several times. Alone, Airbaltic could have never done it. And this sets a good example”.

Hopefully, Riga’s example will inspire Russian provincial airports and they can achieve similar results in cooperation with ambitious low-cost airlines.