Helicopter tours in Kamchatka have risen in price by at least 40% this year, Profi reported.Travel representatives of local tour operators. The possibilities of organizing such tours decreased after the termination of the operator’s certificate from Vityaz-Aero. There are a lot of requests, but not enough boards. At the same time, the conditions offered by Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, which replaced the carrier, often raise questions from travel companies and their customers.
“The only remaining major carrier, Kamchatka Airlines, offers conditions that are not entirely clear to tour operators in terms of helicopter charter,” said the general director of one of the local travel companies. “If we chartered a helicopter at Vityaz—Aero and paid for the flight time, then Kamchatka Aviation requires payment for the route and considers it to be the maximum.”
The expert recalled that there is such an unpredictable factor as weather conditions — the route may change, but there will be no refund. “For example, you can fly in a straight line, or you can fly around volcanoes — it costs extra flight time. KAP calculates exactly such a maximum route. But, for example, if the weather was normal at point A and point B, but the flights did not take place due to the fact that there was poor visibility over the volcanoes, no one will refund the tourists for the time they did not fly,” said a representative of the local tourism business.
During the year, according to Olga Davydova, General Director of the Kamchatka Travel Agency, the price of the tour increased by 40%. “Last year, a helicopter tour to the Valley of Geysers or the Kuril Lake cost about 70 thousand rubles per person, now it costs 95-100 thousand rubles,” she explained. — The situation is complicated. If the issue with the Knights is not resolved, prices will continue to rise.: The cost of fuel is rising, but there is no competition. We’re completely at a loss right now.: what to do? For example, we work with the VIP segment, we have a lot of requests for individual excursions, but the fleet of Kamchatka Aviation helicopters is not enough for everyone.”
According to her, representatives of the tourism industry in Kamchatka hope that Vityaz-Aero will be able to continue its work. “They are really professionals, a great team,” Olga Davydova said.
According to the Rosaviatsia website, 20 helicopters were listed in the Vityaz-Aero operator’s certificate: 19 Mi-8 and one Mi-2. The airline carried out subsidized passenger flights between settlements of the Kamchatka Territory, tourist and VIP transportation, as well as aviation work. On August 31 of this year, a plane crash occurred with the Mi-8 Vityaz-Aero helicopter. There were 22 people on board — crew members, tourists and representatives of the tourism industry, all died as a result of the accident.