Aeroflot expects slight decrease in Russian airline traffic in 2025, foreign traffic to grow 10%-20%

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 8 (Interfax) - The passenger traffic of Russian airlines may slightly decrease compared to the previous year in 2025, while foreign traffic will increase significantly, Aeroflot CEO Sergei Alexandrovsky said.

"According to the forecast, a slight decrease in passenger traffic of Russian airlines is expected. Foreign airlines will increase their traffic 10%-20%. The trend is likely to continue in 2026," Alexandrovsky told journalists at the 2025 Eastern Economic Forum.

The total passenger traffic of Russian airlines fell 1.7% year-on-year in 7M 2025 to 62.1 million people, the Federal Air Transport Agency said. The traffic of Aeroflot Group during the same period increased 1.2%, to 31.6 million people.

According to the agency's forecast, the traffic of all Russian airlines may decrease almost 2% by the end of the year, to 109.7 million passengers. The Transport Ministry expects to maintain last year's level of 111.7 million people.

The share of foreign airlines in the Russian international air transportation market in Q1 2025 was 41.8%, exceeding the figure for the same period last year by 3.3 percentage points, according to Aeroflot's June investor presentation.