Aeroflot aviation support plan proposals would add 50 bln to revenue
MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Aeroflot Russian Airlines could receive 50 billion rubles in additional revenue if the sector support measures it has proposed are put into practice, CEO Vitaly Savelyev told journalists on Monday.
Aeroflot proposed a number of measures to help the aviation industry cope with the difficult economy at a meeting Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev held in Samara last week, Savelyev said.
Aeroflot wants VAT reduced to zero on domestic flights [currently 18%; reduction to 10% proposed].
"We believe that if VAT is to be cut, it should be reduced to zero. We won't solve anything by reducing it to 10% from 18%. The Finance Ministry's opposition is understandable, because it will see revenue decline, but helping every company individually is a much bigger risk for the ministry," he said.
Aeroflot also proposed freezing the tariffs the natural monopolies charge. "This could be done for a short period, for example, one year. Airlines are in a worse situation than airports. We all have leased planes, and the lease is in dollars. We even pay for the [Russian-made] SSJ100 [Sukhoi Superjet-100] in rubles at the current dollar exchange rate. Kerosene: the foreign currency equivalent. All insurance premiums: in foreign currency," he said.
Moscow Domodedovo Airport recently began charging its tariffs in euro, Savelyev said. "Let them set prices in yuan. Simply because of that we will not go to them. [Aeroflot 100% subsidiary] Pobeda went and didn't make it," he said.