OREANDA-NEWS. December 29, 2009. Over the four years of doing business with the German low-cost carrier Germanwings, Vnukovo International has welcomed more than 580 thousand airline's passengers. Germanwings commenced scheduled services to Berlin out of Vnukovo Intl. on June 20, 2005, following them up with a significant expansion of the list of destinations in Germany served from our Airport. The air carrier currently operates multiple weekly schedules to Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart, offering its passengers consistently high-quality service both in flight and on the ground.

Ih the four years the carrier has been operating out of Vnukovo Intl., a total of 200 thousand air travelers have come to use its Moscow -Berlin service, with another 230 thousand-plus passengers that the airline carried on its Cologne-Moscow route. On July 17, 2005 Cologne became second to be added to the Germanwings list of destinations served out of Vnukovo Intl. And since the carrier introduced scheduled services to Stuttgart in April, 2006, a total of over 100 thousand passengers have traveled the route.

Thanks to convenient flight transfers offered by Germanwings, the air travelers headed for Germany from Vnukovo Intl. can easily continue their journey onward across Europe with the same carrier.

Vnukovo Intl. was the first airport in Russia to embark on long-term collaboration with a strictly low-cost carrier. Germanwings in turn became the first Western airline to inaugurate regular services out of Vnukovo International.

Germanwings has all the markings of a low-cost carrier, particularly apparent in the efficient use the airline makes of its single-type aircraft fleet, and in the predominantly web-based ticket sales. One can easily select a Germanwings route to their liking and buy air tickets online, by logging on to: www.germanwings.com, the airline's official website featuring a Russian-language interface. Alternatively, Germanwings air tickets can be booked and purchased via the good offices of Messrs, Transagentstvo Vnukovo reachable at: www.vnukovo-ticket.ru. Germanwings maintains an in-house frequent-flier program under the brand of Boomerang Club. The membership entitles its holder to a free ninth roundtrip flight (following eight paid round trips).

Germanwings is one of Europe's unqualified success stories in the low-cost airline business. The carrier was founded in 2002 and since January 1, 2009, its entire stock has been held by Messrs.Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The Germanwings route network spans 65 destinations across Europe, served by the carrier's 27-strong fleet of modern A-319 midrange twinjets. The year 2008 saw the airline carry a total of around 8 million passengers. The air carrier has won praise and repeated citations as the safest Airbus aircraft operator from Airbus Industrie, the European aircraft-manufacturing giant.