Mixed management fortunes at Moscow airports

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Recent twists in the management of Moscow's airports have revealed mixed fortunes for the companies at their operational helms.

East Line Group has sealed the sale of its East Line air company to focus on the management of Domodedovo airport. Co-owner of cargo company Tesis Alexei Kuimov bought the air company with a fleet of over 20 airplanes last month. Its airport business at Domodedovo, which served 9.4m passengers in 2003, has gone from strength to strength and in 2003 its revenue figures amounted to $650m.

In contrast to the success of East Line, the power struggle continues at Sheremetyevo airport where Aeroflot and Alfa Group failed to reach an agreement on the establishment of a united management company and an operational strategy. The companies were given two weeks by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov to develop a management concept but is it likely the parties will negotiate for a further three weeks.

Friction between the two companies has arisen over how to divide control at the airport. The management of Alfa-Sheremetyevo said that control of the new company that manages the two active terminals and the construction of a third terminal should be its domain. But Aeroflot is keen take on construction of the new terminal itself. An estimated $400m will be spent on the development of the new terminal and total investments for the airport upgrade are estimated to be $1.5-$2bn.