A new regional airline for the Far East planned by Aeroflot

'We are looking into this issue, thinking where and how it is better to develop the airline,' Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev was quoted saying by news agencies. 

He also stressed the need for co-operation with key regions in the Far East, hinting progress has been made already on this.  

Aeroflot would hold the controlling stake.

A timescale of up to a year and a half is envisaged and the airline would have at least ten new aircraft. 

The plan is expected to come to the Aeroflot board by autumn. 

Aeroflot secured a controlling stake in Vladivostok Avia last year.

In a boost to business and tourism, the airline has recently resumed scheduled flights to Tokyo from Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

The services were earlier suspended in the wake of last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami which led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.