Volga-Dnepr Group

State influence:

Over 20 years, Volga-Dnepr Group has been successfully representing the Russian airfreight industry in the international market. The Group is the world leader in the unique, oversize and heavy cargo market. It includes two leading airline cargo companies – Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridgeCargo Airlines – which have been honoured with the prestigious “Wings of Russia” national aviation award on many occasions. The Group employs 3,000 staff worldwide and has representative offices in nine countries[21].

Group is private. Russian government has tried to help via subsidies the company to internationalize and was interested in this internationalization as the Group’s activities are important for the country.

Internationalization:

Country	UK, USA, China, Ireland, Germany, and many others
Year of entry	1994 – The Volga-Dnepr China subsidiary was established in Beijing (today group has two sales offices in Beijing and Shanghai); 1996 – Volga-Dnepr Ireland Ltd was established in 1996 for AN-124-100 maintenance; 2000 – The US branch was established to promote Volga-Dnepr services in the North and South American markets. It deals with Volga-Dnepr marketing and sales in the region. The branch is situated in Houston, Texas. At present Volga-Dnepr - Unique Air Cargo Inc. generates about 30% of Volga-Dnepr’s total global operations; 2004 – Ruslan SALIS GmbH was established in 2004 in Leipzig by its joint founder partners, Volga-Dnepr Group (Russia) and Antonov Design Bureau (Ukraine). The company won an international tender for air transportation support to anti-terrorist, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
Industry/ business area	Full range of air logistics solutions using both chartered and scheduled transportation.
Entry mode	Greenfield, FDI (creation of representatives offices, the Engineering and Logistic Centre, etc), joint ventures (Ex. Ruslan International Ltd, Ruslan Salis Gmbh)
Motives	Other general motives were the “pull” ones, i.e. growth opportunities: · To increase sales · To increase market share of the firm
Firm specific advantagesused on the foreign market	Leadership strategy, future concern, high professionalism, client orientation, financial stability and transparency, safety and leadership as the core business idea of the Group, fulfillment of all international safety requirements and standards.
First mover or follower	First mover in the segment of non-standard (oversize and heavy) cargo transportation.   Volga-Dnepr Airlines operates chartered freight services within the Group. Established in 1990 in Ulyanovsk, it was the first private airfreight company in Russia with a unique business model of providing commercial operations using An-124-100 “Ruslan” freighters to provide previously impossible air logistics solutions. By introducing Ruslan freighters into the civil (non-military) market, Volga-Dnepr Airlines established a new international market segment for non-standard (oversize and heavy) cargo transportation. Nowadays, Volga-Dnepr Airlines is the world leader in this field and the largest operator of An-124 aircraft.
Type of state involvementin the process of internationalization	The business of the Group has a strategic importance for Russia, as Volga-Dnepr has initiated a number of large-scale projects which are important for the development of the Russian aviation industry and transportation system. The major projects include modernization of the IL-76 cargo aircraft, recommencing serial production of the AN-124 “Ruslan” freighter aircraft, and the development of a cargo hub at Sheremetyevo Airport, the first of its kind in Russia. So, Russian government has tried to help the company to internationalize and was interested in this internationalization. For example, in 2003, according to the Decree by the Russian Government, Volga-Dnepr became designated air carrier between the USA and Russia, China and Russia.
Evaluationof the success of the internationalization	Successful. The Group is a world leader in the global market for the movement of oversize, unique and heavy air cargo. Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ client list includes many of the world’s largest industrial corporations such as Lockheed Martin, The Boeing Company, Airbus, Alcatel, Astrium, Bombardier, British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, British Aerospace, General Electric, Bedford Group, Ericsson Air Crane, and Starsem. Volga-Dnepr Airlines is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA).

S7 Airlines

State influence:

The airline has the widest domestic route network in Russia, created on the basis of two air transport hubs at Moscow (Domodedovo) and Novosibirsk (Tolmachevo). It also has regular flights to the countries of the CIS, Europe, the Near East, South-East Asia and to countries in the Asia-Pacific region[22].

The S7 Group of Companies incorporates S7 Airlines, Globus Airlines, international tour operator S7 Tour, and the retail chain for the sale of tickets and tour packages S7 Ticket, among others.

The state airline "Siberia" (or as it now is called S7 airlines) was created in early 1992 on the basis of United Air Tolmachevo (Novosibirsk), but it was privatized in 1994. So now it is a private company, and state doesn’t interfere more than in the activities of other private air companies.

Internationalization:

Country	Offices and representatives in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Year of entry	NA
Industry/ business area	Passenger air flights
Entry mode	Partnerships, agreements (code sharing ones, others)
Motives	Other general motives were the “pull” ones, i.e. growth opportunities: · To increase sales · To increase market share of the firm
Firm specific advantagesused on the foreign market	S7 Airlines has one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the Russian air carriage market. It also constantly innovates and adopts best world practices. For example, it was among the very first Russian airlines to offer online check-in, on-line boarding passes, etc.
First mover or follower	Follower
Type of state involvementin the process of internationalization	Regulation only, like with other private airlines
Evaluationof the success of the internationalization	Successful. S7 Airlines is a member of the oneworld global alliance, world leader in providing quality service to air passengers. Since 2001 S7 Airlines has been a full-fledged member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In 2003 S7 Airlines became the first ever Russian civil aviation winner of a Flight International Aerospace Award. In 2007, after a successful operational safety audit, the airline was included in the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) register of operators.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14