24 Jun 2022 16:16

Drop in Russian airline passenger traffic slows to 20% YoY in June from 24% in May - transport association

MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax) - Russian airlines have posted a decline in passenger traffic of about 20% year-on-year thus far in June, as calculated by Russia's Association of Air Transport Operators (AEVT).

"According to the preliminary estimate of AEVT experts, the lag in the segment of passenger air transportation has stabilized at about 20% year-on-year in June this year from last year's figures," according to the report of AEVT's president, Vladimir Tasun, delivered to the association's general meeting and published on its website.

Russian airlines posted a decrease of 24.4% year-on-year in passenger traffic in May, with 6.6 million people transported against 8.8 million in May 2021; a decline of 28% year-on-year in April, 5.2 million passengers versus 7.2 million the previous year; and a decrease of 20 % in March, 5.2 million against 6.5 million, according to the report. Passenger traffic had been demonstrating a positive trend in January and February prior to the launch of Russia's military operation in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions.

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) suspended its monthly publication of statistics on airline passenger travel after releasing data for February. Russian airlines overall transported slightly fewer than 6 million passengers in February, a rise of 19% year-on-year, including 4.4 million people domestically, a decline of 1% year-on-year, and around 1.6 million internationally, an increase of 2.8-fold.