Alaska to Kamchatka...an impossible dream?

This is an update. Air Vladivostok is still planning to restart this dormant route in June, 2008. The US Department of Transportation has approved it but that does not mean it is going to fly. Supposedly they will fly twice a week from Petropavlodsk-Kamchatsky to Seattle/Tacoma via Anchorage. I highly doubty the DOT will allow fifth freedom rights to pick up and drop off passengers in Anchorage. But the plan is one day a week the flight will stop in Kamchatka on the way to and from Anchorage and one day a week it will stop in Sakhalin.

Dalavia Airlines in Khabarovsk also says they are going to fly to Anchorage via Kamchatka in 2008. But they sold tickets on this route this year only to cancel the service.

I called Dutch Harrbor. This is the last boom town in the US and they even have a Visitor's and Convention Bureau in addition to the lovely little Russian Church of the Holy Ascension. Dutch Harbor is only 1800 km from Petropavlodsk-Kamchatsky, within air taxi range. Atka, even farther west and connected to the US air network under the orphan airport program, must also have bush pilots. But I was told no bush pilot does this route. It is after all an historically sensiitive border, where the KAL 007 flight was supposedly shot down in 1983.

This could be a great route. The Alaska State Ferry has doubled the Tustumena service from Homer to Dutch Harbor to twice a month and there is talk of increasing it furter. This shuld be one of the world's great budget adventures as the 84 hour journey stops in really our of the way Aleut village. We took the Tustumena for a 49 hour trip to Kodiak Island in 1994 and it was a hoot. We slept on the couches and drank beer too.

If I could just break on through to the other side many delights await me. I could hail a minivan and head up to Komsomolsk-na-Amure. Hop on the BAM, Sam!

Thanks for the update, Chicago. Do you know why Alaska quit flying to Khabarovsk? You're right. It is one hell of a trip into the Russian Far East. Like a trip back in time, too.

There were a number of routes from Alaska to Russia back in the 90s. All were stopped because they were not financially viable, ie not enough travelers to warrant the flights.

If flights are resumed I suspect that it will be because of the oil and gas folks in Kamchatka. I can't think that there is anyone else in large enough numbers to warrant maintaining service in this region.

Ruth

Thank you, Ruth. I should have figured it was so simple as a lack of passengers. Too bad. Alaska Airlines knew its business. Knowing that Russians are avid pin collectors, Alaska gave out bags of pins for its passengers to trade.

Ruth is correct. The information I have gleaned from internet searches is that the booming oil business may provide anough traffic for this route. Red Star Travel in Seattle told me that when Dalavia canceled the flight for June of this year passengers were rerouted through Seoul and Vladivostok. There is no air service between Dutch Harbor and Japan. I also believe that the ferry between Korsakov, Sakhalin and Wakkanai, Japan is no longer operating. Cook's does not show it but Higashi Nihon's webpage still shows it. An email to the contact came back undellivered. There is still a 2006 schedule online.
http://www.sakhalin-fantastic.ru/eng/?pg=1<BR><BR>There are a few cruise ships which link up Dutch Harbor and Kamchatka. I believe it is Cruise West. A big operator, I think it was Holland, also did this route once a year as they moved ships from one part of the world to another. But we are tied to a school schedule with 2 little kids. On top of that I hate cruises and these were really expensive.

OP - I would NOT hold my breath for these flights. There have been rumblings off and on for several years but flights never seem to get off the ground. If it happens it will be the oil and gas people who make it happen and the flights won't be cheap as their companies will pay whatever to save the time.

Ruth

I called Bering Air in Nome. They have charters on a Piper Navajo to Provideniya. $3100 to and from 80 minutes each way. $8000 on a King Beechcraft to Anadyr. You land in the Chukotia Autonomous Okrug, where Roman Abramovich is the governor and Chukchis are seen. But it is very difficult to move westward to Magadan, Yakutsk and the BAM.

Air Vladivostok is now saying they will do FOUR weekly flights between Vladivostok and Seattle, two stopping in Kamchatka and the other two in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Starts in April, 2008! They are saying they will fly twice as many flights. I think they are going for it.

Mavrair (Air Magadan) few Magadan- Petrazavodsk-Kamchatsky-Anchorage for years until they stopped service in 2006. They may fly again.

Dalavia allegedly failed to get permission to take over the failed Air Magadan route because the US would not certify Dalavia for safety reasons, or at least that is the rumor. Dalavia says they wil do ths route in 2008 but only their banker knows for sure....

A flight between Seattle and Vladivostok can make money on the freight. Passenger service is gravy.

See you on the BAM! (or at least I hope so!).

The charters have been in operation for years but travel is restricted to local region.

I would be pleased to hear that transpacific flights were available but even Aeroflot decided it was better to go Seattle NYC Moscow than Seattle Kamchatka Vlad Moscow.

Ruth

It is either wishful thinking or false optimism but I think these flights are going to go

1. Since about 1997, the only year there was no Kamchatka-Alaska service was this year. Magadan Air ceased operations and Dalavia jumped in but could not get the safety approval from the U.S. A month later Air Vladivostok files for permission and gets it. Now they are planning twice the weekly flights.

2. Sakhalin is booming. Domestic air traffic doubled in the past 2 years and international traffic grew 7 per cent in the last year.

3. Kamchatka is opening up as a tourist destination. I called Zephram Expeditions about an ad in the ITN. They have a Kamchatka-Alaska cruise next summer. They were rude on the phone when I asked about segments but they did tell me it is already close to being sold out.

4. Seattle makes more sense as a final destination than Anchorage.

5. Vladivostok is booming as a transport hub.

6. Trans-Pacific sea and air traffic has increased dramatically in recent years and that will probably continue.
But Everbrite is right about the cost. Dalavia was quoting $1560 round trip from Khabarovsk to Anchorage plus taxes. Not exactly a budget experience.

The oil and gas business is centered in Sakhalin not Kamchatka. Flights to/from the US west coast to Sakhalin could be viable considering the level of investment and personel going into that region.
Vladivostok is booming as a transport hub? Please explain.

Chicago Best,

Not to step on anyones feet but as the owner of The Best of Kamchatka and having been on the leading edge of just about every single issue you discuss I would like to weigh in.. Ruth is not correct. None of the flights failed because of lack of profitability. There was a great study published by The Institute of the North which defined many of the reasons. Alaska Air had problems on Sakhalin not lack of profitability. I flew on the last flight with Tom Holmes the then station manager in Petro and it was a sad day.
Dalavia in my opinion pulled out because they had cold feet and some of the larger outfitters and tour companies had already made alternative plans prior to their announcement. Frankly I think the bad feelings of Magadan Airlines behavior spills forward to this day.
Magadan Airlines was 100 million in debt due to theft at the highest levels of the company. It was my understanding the the Kamchatka route was one of the most profitable in the long history of Reeves Airlines and the loss of the Red Dog Mine contract was the real reason for their bankruptcy.
Flying with Evergreen Air is a completely unrealistic.
I work closely with Red Star Travel and we did switch our customers, all 186 of them thru Seoul. It was ok but not as convenient as the Alaska routing.
I spoke with Vlad Avia for 2 hours Monday night and have a good feel for their plans. It is my understanding they will announce officially in early December but the final price and schedule will come out any day. As for cheap, it is not cheap to get to Kamchatka any other way so why not pay the price for the convenience. It was almost $1500 for the ticket with Alaska back in the 90's. I think that people who have been to the RFE and understand what a fantastic place it is will come out of the woodwork for this flight. I also am not holding my breath but after a long talk with the FAA in Anchorage this afternoon and the folks at Alaska Airport it seems as though this may be the real deal. If anyone would like to read the feasibility study email me and I will send it to you.
Will Blair

will - thanks for the information.

Ruth

Will, I really appreciate you taking the time to update us on this. I think you can appreciate how hard it is to sit here in Chicago and try to figure out what is going on in a Cyrillic website, or what kind of travel gosspi you can get by calling remote airports.
I found Vlad Air's FAA Request for Waiver and decision on the Internet. I printed it out but it is in some file somewhere.

One thing I am NOT holding my breath for is a stovoer in Ducth Harbor, or any air connection between Dutch Harbor and Russia or Japan.

AIR VLADIVOSTOK NOW HAS THIS PRESS RELEASE ONTS WEBSITE. HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!!!

November 8, 2007American Surprise
It is not an overstatement to say that Vladivostok Air has an important event in the works for its existing and future passengers. The airline will operate regular flights to the American continent for the first time in the company history.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky — Anchorage (Alaska, USA) — Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky flights are scheduled under the summer flight timetable of 2008. The civil aviation authorities has already authorized the airline to operate regular flights. The company experts are currently developing the destination fares and agreeing on the timetable.



Vladivostok — Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky — Vladivostok connecting flight will be operated specially for this service, which will clearly link the Siberia and Far East of Russia with Alaska. The airline expects that the new service will become popular with lovers of outdoor activities not only from Russia but also from Korea, China, Singapore and Thailand as there is a demand for the direct aircraft service with Alaska.

It is noteworthy that the new service is perfectly in line with the spirit of geographic “discoveries” by the Far-Eastern airline. It was Vladivostok Air who became the first official carrier for Vladivostok — Beijing or Vladivostok — Hanoi services not so long ago; it was also the first airline in the history of civil aviation to operate a nonstop flight from Vladivostok to Saint-Petersburg onboard TU-204-300.

PR Service
Vladivostok Air
oso@vladavia.ru

Chicago,

I received an email from the point person at Vlad Avia late last week and another yesterday. They are currently finishing the schedule and should release it this week along with a price. I am not at liberty to discuss the exact schedule but I will say it looks very promising. The fact of the matter is for this flight to succeed everyone involved needs to be part of the program. Not to complain but I truly believe if last year everyone involved with Russian Far East travel would have been positive and taken steps to work with Dalavia they would have flown. There was and is still a lot of negativity within the travel industry concerning trusting Russian Air carriers. I can understand as I was sent a certified letter from the General Director of Magadan in May of 2006 insisting that they would continue to fly the US route, complete fabrication. That said I have a lot more faith in Vlad Avia having flown with them the last two summers. They have nice equipment and their office responds professionally and in a timely fashion, a rarity for Russians.

Thanks for the update, Will. This is indeed exciting news. My wife just got her vacation approved so that looks good too. Price and talking her into another Alaska trip will be the hard part!
From what I know Air Vladivostok is a good carrier, a lot better than some of the carriers I have flown.

I imagine this means Dalavia wil;l NOT do the route because I don't see them going head on head with Vlad Avia, at least for the first summer.

One of the easons I see potential in this route is that Alaska already has almost a million affluent package tourists each summer. Tour operators could offer a very special and unique add-on with this route. Many towns in Alaska have been ruined by the way the cruise company has put local businsses under and so on so I hope that does not happen to Kamchatka anytime soon!

Oh, this is the new 'How to get to Abkhazia'...

And I'd love to go to Kamchatka, been fascinated with it for some time now, though whenever it materializes for me it will be with transsiberian.

The Abkhazia thread is great. I learned a lot...

By the way, there are some interesting ways of seeing Abkhazia and Kamchatka on the same trip. S7 Siberian Airlines flies to Kamchatka from its hub in Novosibirsk as well as to Adler, the airport for Sochi right on the border with Abkhazia. There is also an Adler-Abakan train that takes 5 days and goes through some really out of the way places including the charming Magnitogorsk, one of the worst cities in Russia. Abakan is also the jumping off point for TuVa and Tuva Avia now flies 4 times a week to Kransoyarsk, which IS a pretty location for a city. It blew me away I must say. I think Kras Air also flies to Vlaidivostok but I read the Cyrillic alphabest so slowly I gave up and Boris Berezovsky has been no help in this matter!

Is Tuva as fantastic a destination as Kamchatka and Abkhazia?

By the way, Alaska Airlines last week offered incredibly cheap one-way fares to Alaska that would hook up with Vlad Avia's weekly flight to paradise, also known as Petrapavlodsk-Kamchatsy.

Hi All,
My brother is very interested in visiting Kamchatka. So, from the US (actually Chicago!) what would the routing to Kamchatka look like? Can you get a flight from Seoul, like an earlier poster said? Thanks for any advice.

Time for an update...

Air Vladivostok will NOT start this service in April. Their web page says maybe in July. Vlad Air did fly a test flight from Vladivostok to Saipan, which was cleared under FAA rules and they brag about it a little bit. I think the safety cleaance is still the issue.

To answer the last question, there are lots of flights from Chicago to Seoul. From there you can fly to Vladivostok and then to Kamchatka. Until the Alaska route open up this seems to be a good route.

Seoul is a big interesting city with good hostels, food and transport.

As I said earlier, I would not hold my breath on this. Even if they do get permission for it to operate, i still suspect that the economics are not there to maintain operation of this route for long. It is expensive to get from anyplace in the US to Alaska and then from Kamchatka or Vladivostok anywhere else in Russia.

Ruth

VLADIVOSTOK, April 3, vladivostoktimes.com As ITAR-TASS reports, passenger air communication between the Russian Far East and American Alaska starts again.

As the Chief of tourism department of Kamchatka Territory Tamara TUTUSHKINA reported, passenger air flights in direction Vladivostok - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Anchorage will be started from July 7.

"Starting regular flights to Alaska is what we dreamt about and strove for," TUTUSHKINA said. According to her, direct flights from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Anchorage stopped in 2005.

In its turn, stopping flights had negative effect on the US tourists' visits to the peninsular, as Territory travel agency states.

http://vladivostoktimes.ru/show.php?id=23757

Air Vladivostok's web page still will not price this route, although it does list the details. Evidently, Stevens Airport in Anchorage has not been contacted concerning gate access and fees. This flight still might not come off this year.

Flight options
Select your preferred flights below and click 'Next' to price:

Unable to price the selected journey - please select a different option

Select a flight, Anchorage - Petropavlovsk-Kamchats, Mon, 07 Jul

Select Flight From/To Time
XF712
Economy Anchorage
Petropavlovsk-Kamchats Mon, 07 Jul
07:45
09:45 (+1)

Air Vladivostok is now pricing the fare. It is an incredible $US 1770 one way!

Confirm the price and click 'Next' to continue with the booking:

Journey

XF711
Economy Petropavlovsk-Kamchats
Anchorage Mon, 07 Jul
22:00
05:45

Air fare cost

Type Travellers Net Tax
Total
Adult: 1 RUB 38 625,00 RUB 2 100,00 (details) RUB 40 725,00 each

Child: 1 RUB 19 315,00 RUB 2 100,00 (details) RUB 21 415,00 each

Total: RUB 62 140,00

Round trip is $US2700. It looks like there is a second flight to Alaska on Wedenday and back to Kamchatka on Thursday. Two flights per week?

Flight price
Confirm the price and click 'Next' to continue with the booking:

Outbound journey

XF712
Economy Anchorage
Petropavlovsk-Kamchats Mon, 07 Jul
07:45
09:45 (+1)

Inbound journey

XF711
Economy Petropavlovsk-Kamchats
Anchorage Thu, 17 Jul
22:00 05:45

Air fare cost

Type Travellers Net Tax
Total
Adult: 1 USD 2,590.00 USD 157.00 (details) USD 2,747.00 each

Child: 1 USD 1,295.00 USD 157.00 (details) USD 1,452.00 each

Total: USD 4,199.00

(+1) Flight departs/arrives one day later