Passenger air traffic in Russia rises almost 11% in May

MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax) - Passenger turnover of Russian airlines increased 10.6% in May 2024 compared to May last year to 23.2 billion passenger kilometers (pkm), according to data from the Federal Air Transport Agency analyzed by Interfax.

On flights within Russia, the figure was 15 billion pkm (+0.9%), and 8.2 billion pkm (+34%) on foreign flights.

Airline passenger traffic increased 7.1%, last month to 9.3 million people, which is generally consistent with preliminary data previously released by Federal Air Transport Agency. The number includes 7 million passengers (+1.7%) transported within the country, and 2.3 million (+28%) abroad. The total number reached 40.4 million in January-May (+8%).

As reported, the passenger traffic of Russia's largest aviation group, Aeroflot (unites the airline of the same name, Pobeda and Rossiya) increased 22% in May to 4.6 million people. Passenger turnover increased 27.1%, to 11.9 billion pkm.

Based on the comprehensive aviation industry development program updated in May, all Russian airlines will transport 98.1 million people (including 77.3 million within the country and 20.8 million outside it) by year-end, a 7% decrease versus 2023. In the previous version of the document, the forecast for this year was 104.5 million people, including 83.6 million domestic passengers.