Aeroflot launches Dobrolet with maiden flight to Crimea

Aeroflot has launched its LCC subsidiary Dobrolet, with the first flight taking place from Moscow to Simferopol in the Crimean peninsula. The airline was originally set to begin operations between Moscow and St. Petersburg, but switched to Simferopol after Russia’s annexation of the territory. The new destination is seen as politically symbolic. Dobrolet will initially operate four daily flights along the route using a B737-800NG, planning to serve 11 destinations in 2014, and to increase its fleet to 45 aircraft by 2018.