Face-to-Face: Spiro Deligiannis
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1. What does the word ‘eznis’ mean?
The airline’s name ‘eznis’ means ‘easiness in flight’. The name consists of two parts which when put together convey ‘easy flight’, as the first two letters ‘ez’ stand for ‘easy’ in English and ‘nis’ is a Mongolian word meaning ‘fly’. The Eznis logo represents a compass with eight destinations. A soft, flower-type image was chosen to give a relaxing and stress-free feeling to passengers, hence our tagline ‘Fly ez, Fly Smart’.
2. What does Eznis Airways offer visitors to Mongolia?
Eznis Airways offers regular and seasonal scheduled services from Ulaanbaatar to over a dozen destinations within the country, including all the major tourism sites. Popular tourist locales include the desert landscapes of the Gobi in the south, Murun in the north where Lake Hovsgol, a 100-mile long pristine alpine lake is located which hosts the annual Ice Festival in the winter, as well as Ulgii in the far western part of the country which is famous for its Golden Eagle Festival. During the summer peak season we also offer flights to Kharkhorin, the historical capital of the Mongolian Empire. One of our main principles is to offer our passengers a reliable product, comfortable flights and friendly customer service, ensuring our customers experience the legendary hospitality of Mongolians first hand.
3. How has Eznis Airways grown since the first scheduled flight in December 2006?
Since starting its services, Eznis Airways has now become the Mongolian airline with the largest domestic route network. Our network has more than doubled to 14 markets from Ulaanbaatar and is expanding. In 2009, Eznis bucked the sagging global airline industry numbers by generating more revenue, having higher load factors and carrying more passengers than 2008, which in itself was a very strong year. Eznis has now built the highest frequency of flights, commanding 75% share of the scheduled domestic market. Following our first ever scheduled international service – from Ulaanbaatar to China’s Inner Mongolia region, Hailar, started in Aug 2009 – Eznis Airways is launching services today to the Russian city of Ulan-Ude, located near Lake Baikal. This will be the only international service to/from Ulan-Ude, allowing for convenient travel to nearby Lake Baikal. The airline is also expanding its fleet to meet growing demand for air transportation with the addition of our 4th Saab 340B aircraft just this past week and plans for acquiring larger Bombardier Q400 aircraft within a year.
4. The Mongolian government has taken measures to improve the country’s air transport infrastructure. What are some of those measures and what do they mean for Eznis Airways?
The parliament resolution passed in 2007 has laid the foundation for liberalisation of the Government Policy of Mongolia on air transport infrastructure. As a result state owned MIAT Mongolian Airlines is set to be privatised in the near future which would allow airlines to compete effectively on both domestic and international markets. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is preparing to audit Mongolian civil aviation as a whole this month, leading to a revamping of civil aviation laws and regulations of Mongolia.
In addition the Government of Mongolia has started implementing measurements to build new airports, surfacing unpaved runways in Western Mongolia as well as improve communication, navigational and surveillance systems.
5. Eznis Airways’ charter service has quite a few high profile customers. Who might new charter customers expect to rub elbows with on the tarmac?
Eznis Airways offers charter services to a number of points in Mongolia, as well as international charter services to points in China, Russia and Kazakhstan. The services are used by top mining companies such as Ivanhoe Mines, Southgobi Sands, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, as well as leading tour operators from throughout the world via their local travel partner in Mongolia.
In addition to Mongolian government officials such as the President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament who mostly use Eznis charter services, we have carried several VIP guests including the Kuwaiti emir’s son, the Princess of Thailand, as well as the Japan Crown Prince.
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