Penza, 15 January 2015. PenzaNews. Over 73 thousand clients used the services of the Penza airport in 2014, which is 73% higher than a year ago.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

The airport provided regular charter flights from Penza to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara, along with season flights to Sochi, Anapa and Simferopol.

One of the most used flights was “Penza—Moscow—Penza,” which was used by over 40,700 passengers, or about 56% of total airport traffic.

“According to statistics of this flight, average load of ‘Penza—Moscow’ was 74-86%, while ‘Moscow—Penza’ flights were regularly 70-90% occupied. A maximum load of 50 passengers a flight was registered in 5 cases out of 200+,” the press service of the Industry and Transportation Department of the Penza region informed PenzaNews agency.

According to officials, the tariffs set by “RusLine” company for “Penza—Moscow” flights (from 5,525 to 12,485 rubles) were set at the beginning of the 2014 flight season and have not changed since then.

“These tariffs fall within the average flight prices in other regions, service expenses notwithstanding. For example, a flight ticket in Ulyanovsk may cost from 6,490 to 11,490 rubles. An airplane ticket may cost 5,925-12,373 in Orenburg, or 5,525-12,125 rubles in Saransk,” the press service added.

An extensive Penza airport upgrade began in 2005, after it was included in two federal programs aimed to repair and improve the transportation system of Russia.

Since then, the airport has been fully reconstructed and repaired to comply to modern regulations. Nowadays, it can accept modern airplanes of any country of origin, including Tu-204, Il-76T, Il-76TD, An-148, Airbus-319, Airbus-320, Airbus-321, Boeing-737, Boeing-757, GRJ-100/200, and more.