Arrival of Ural Airlines

With the arrival of Ural Airlines, Nice Côte d’Azur is building up its connections with Russia and harnessing the liberalisation of traffic rights.

Following the renegotiation of traffic rights between France and Russia, many Russian airlines have turned to Nice Côte d’Azur airport, which now offers 39 frequencies to Moscow and Saint Petersburg and provides 22% of the available seats on flights between the two countries.

From 1 May to 26 October, Ural Airlines will offer two weekly frequencies, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between Nice Côte d’Azur and Moscow Zhukovsky. Using A321-200 aircraft, these rotations will provide almost 23,000 additional seats on flights to Russia. This summer, Nice Côte d’Azur will offer a total of 39 weekly frequencies to Russia (11 more than in summer 2018).

The arrival of this new airline and the addition of Moscow Zhukovsky airport as a destination strengthen Nice Côte d’Azur’s already record summer flight programme, which now offers 121 destinations (including 97 international destinations), flying to 43 countries, compared to 40 in 2018.

Above all, the arrival of Ural Airlines supports Nice Côte d’Azur Airport’s commitment to better liberalisation of traffic rights and an accelerated decentralisation of the French airspace.

“As with the Gulf States or North America, our stronger connections with Russia, a destination for which we provide 22% of seats flying from France, show the growing interest of passengers and companies for the Côte d’Azur. This proves that once traffic rights are liberalised, we can boost the attractiveness and economic dynamism of territories, offer business travellers and tourists a high-quality alternative to the hubs, and bring some relief to the saturated skies of Northern Europe,” states Dominique Thillaud, Chairman of the Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur.

Now at the centre of a network connecting 24 French airports to 97 international destinations, including 7 long-haul connections, Nice Côte d’Azur is working to improve its services, to encourage connections from its platform and make these run as smoothly as possible.