New airline offers the world a route to some of Russia's remotest and most exotic destinations

The new branding, unveiled this week in Moscow, sees the merging of two Aeroflot subsidiaries Vladivostok Air and SAT Airlines, which served Sakhalin.

Aurora's avowed aim is to boost economic growth in the Far East and ensure better connections in a vast area of the country which has been poorly served since the collapse of the Soviet Union. As such its services - set to massively expand from its two constituent airlines - will benefit residents of the Far East.

In the next five years, the total number of flights will be increased from 172 to 534 and the number of routes will rise from 30 to 128. The airline will also offer enticing possibilities to adventurous travellers who want to explore the some of Siberia's most exotic places.

Among these are the Russian diamond capital of Yakutsk in the Republic of Sakha, a permafrost region with untold tourist potential in summer and winter.

Another is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of the region of Kamchatka, know as Russia's land of fire and ice. The remote city of Magadan and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, capital of Sakhalin island, are two other destinations for travellers who like to go off the beaten track. 

Vladivostok and Khabarovsk - the two key business hubs in the Russian Far East - are priorities for Aurora.

Prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said at the Moscow presentation ceremony: 'I wish the air tickets be more affordable to the people.

'The new company should earn enough from ticket sale to let it develop, but the ticket price should be affordable for our citizens. It is particularly important for the development of the Russian Far East.'

Aeroflot has a 51% stake in the airline, with the rest owned by the Sakhalin government.

The fleet has been replenished by modern aircraft.  By the end of 2013, three more Aerobus-A319 planes will be added to the medium-range Boeings-737 the company now uses.

By the end of 2014 Aurora will have seven Aerobus-A319 planes with a target of 40 planes by 2018. Currently it has 16 planes.

'We count on effective co-operation with the state and regional authorities in the further development of this project, which the Russian Far East needs so much,' said Aeroflot general director Vitaly Savelyev.