Airfares to Europe and the US will now cost around 20-35 per cent cheaper, courtesy Russian carrier Aeroflot.

The airline, which had withdrawn its India operations post 9/11 disasters, will resume its flights ex-Mumbai from January 25.

The carrier claims that its business class fares on Mumbai-Moscow-London- Mumbai route, or any other network connecting the US and the European destinations, would be equivalent to the economy class fare of any other carrier.

At the same time, its economy class fares would be around 15-20 per cent cheaper than the other carrier connecting India with the US and Europe, sources close to Aeroflot told Business Standard.

For instance, return fares to be offered by the airline to all European destinations ex Mumbai (via Moscow) would be in the range of Rs 26,000 (plus taxes) against around Rs 40,000 (plus taxes) offered by other international carriers connecting India with Europe.

The carrier's return fares to the US and Canada are expected to be in the range of Rs 40,000 compared with fares over Rs 45,000 offered by other international scheduled flight operators.

To start with, Aeroflot will be announcing 5 flights on the Mumbai-Moscow- Mumbai route and would be gradually increasing its frequency depending on the demand.

A formal announcement would be made by the airline on Monday.

"Having identified a heavy business traffic out of India to Moscow, the airline has decided to re-start its operations out of India. Also, the potential of the Indian market in terms of tourism has also prompted the move," sources said.