Aeroexpress Offers Moscow Airports to Improve Quality of Passenger Service

The conference was attended by Rustam Akiniazov, Chief Commercial Officer of Aeroexpress; Elena Pinteleyeva, Director of Aeroexpress’ Marketing Department; Vadim Semikin, Director of Public Relations for Aeroexpress; representatives from the marketing and press service departments of Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports, MAGRAM specialists, and media representatives.

The task of the Aeroexpress and MAGRAM joint study was to identify the activities contributing to increased passenger traffic and to improve the quality of services provided by both Aeroexpress and the Moscow airports. In fact, the present study is a portrait of air passengers of different ages and social categories taking trips from Moscow or returning to the capital, or who visit the city in transit through Moscow using Aeroexpress trains and other modes of transport for these purposes. The study revealed preferences in their choices to travel to the airport or to the city centre and the reasons for this choice, and also specified the level of passenger awareness regarding the possibility to use quick, comfortable, and attractively priced Aeroexpress trains to travel within Moscow.

Aeroexpress is a pioneer company in the field of passenger transportation at the Moscow aviation hub, generating all information about traffic. Aeroexpress has shared this information with their colleagues – Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports.

After a thorough examination of the study results, presented by Elena Pinteleyeva, Director of Aeroexpress’ Marketing Department, in the form of free communication, participants in the working meeting discussed the idea of cooperation between Aeroexpress and Moscow airports. In particular, Aeroexpress proposed to accelerate information exchange about the current timetable changes, including those taking place during the Christmas holidays and the upcoming Winter Olympics, as well as additional data about development plans. The company also suggested providing access to the arrivals area for Aeroexpress personnel for the sale of train tickets by mobile ticket agents and through ticket vending machines, and also introducing the sale of Aeroexpress train tickets via the airports’ websites.

Issues concerning improvements to passenger transportation quality were also addressed, including the need to reduce barriers that might prevent passengers from using Aeroexpress services as a comfortable transportation option between the city and the airports. Navigation at the airports also needs to be improved with the help of image boards and placards, indicating the location of Aeroexpress offices and terminals. It also important to inform those passengers who are still in flight or have just landed about this comfortable way to travel to the city centre via an Aeroexpress train.

Elena Pinteleyeva drew airport colleagues’ attention to the fact that transfer passengers are not well informed about the options for making a quick journey to the Moscow centre using Aeroexpress services and that this is the reason they still tend to use the services of ‘emergency’ taxi drivers, risking not only their time, but sometimes also their health. Rustam Akiniazov, Chief Commercial Officer of Aeroexpress, made similar comments, highlighting the fact that “substandard transportation may not only cause damage to passengers, but also adversely affect the image of Russia’s capital”.

As the meeting demonstrated, all of the participants have incentives to make the Moscow air hub a unified environment, in which all participants – both Aeroexpress and the capital’s airports – can work smoothly, cooperating with each other on all issues. After all, the comfort of millions of passengers depends on the quality of such cooperation.