First the number of passengers dwindled in the Corona crisis, then the attack on Ukraine hit Russia’s aviation industry in the form of no-fly zones. The Kremlin now wants to provide state support for the industry.
The Russian aviation industry loses 19 million passengers in the current year alone due to the flight bans imposed by Moscow in the wake of the Ukraine war in southern Russia. That is about a fifth of the planned total transport figures, the business newspaper “Vedomosti” reported, citing the Ministry of Transport.
The aviation industry is one of the sectors hardest hit by the war in Russia. The airspace over Europe and North America is closed to Russia. Western sanctions also ban the supply and maintenance of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which form the backbone of Russian airlines. Moscow has therefore hastily decided to re-register many machines and stopped air traffic to a number of countries for fear of the jets being confiscated.
In addition, the Russian government has imposed a flight ban over the south of its own country since February due to ongoing hostilities. Eleven airports cannot be served, including those in the Black Sea resorts of Anapa and Gelendzhik and in Simferopol in Crimea, annexed by Russia since 2014. This has serious consequences, especially in the holiday months: In June, the airlines were missing 2.7 million passengers, in July and August there is a risk of a deficit of 3.2 and 3.3 million passengers. The Russian leadership has promised the airlines state aid of 100 billion rubles (1.7 billion euros).
Russian airlines such as Aeroflot had already seen a sharp drop in passenger numbers of around a third by the beginning of 2022 in the wake of the Corona crisis. With the USA, the EU, Great Britain and Canada the most lucrative markets are blocked.