Aeroflot maintains traffic and market share in 2025

:: Alexey Pereslavtsev / Aeroflot

The Aeroflot Group successfully navigated the headwinds of 2025, retaining its position as the leader in Russian aviation and preserving its market share.

The Group met its key targets, sustaining passenger traffic at the robust levels of the previous year. Russia’s largest airline group — comprising Aeroflot, Rossiya, and LCC Pobeda — carried 55.34 million passengers, a 0.1% year-on-year increase.

Domestic services formed the backbone of operations, accounting for 76% of total traffic, or 41.96 million passengers. International traffic showed strong growth, rising 5.2% to 13.38 million passengers. This higher-yield international segment helps the Group balance domestic fare structures, keeping flights within Russia affordable.

RPK grew by 3.4% to 154.09 billion, while ASK increased by 2.7%. A standout achievement was a record seat load factor of 90.2% (+0.6 p.p. year-on-year)—an exceptional figure for a network carrier like Aeroflot. This was driven by intensive aircraft utilization and effective airworthiness management, said airline. Enhanced in-house MRO capabilities supported a total fleet utilization exceeding 1 million flight hours in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 8.9% since 2023.

The flagship Aeroflot airline carried 29.5 million passengers, a slight dip of 1.8% attributed largely to the transfer of its Moscow-St. Petersburg “Shuttle” flights to Rossiya, alongside external non-operational factors. Despite this, its RPK expanded 6.0% to 99.9 billion.

Critically, the Group maintained a 41.8% market share in a year where Russian carriers collectively saw a nearly 3% decline in traffic, even as foreign airlines significantly expanded their presence, capturing a 24.8% share.

Aeroflot demonstrated resilience by adapting its processes to mitigate external disruptions affecting aircraft acceptance and operations.

The Group’s network in 2025 spanned approximately 290 routes across 64 Russian cities and 19 countries, primarily operating through hubs in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, and Sochi. Its strategy to develop routes bypassing Moscow progressed well, with such flights now representing 62% of the network.

Enhancing regional connectivity, Aeroflot expanded its flat-fare program from five to nine cities, adding Ulan-Ude, Yakutsk, Anadyr, and Blagoveshchensk in the Far East. A new discount program for children aged 2–12 proved popular, carrying over 2.2 million young passengers during the year.

NETWORK DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Key market developments included the reopening of two temporarily closed airports: Gelendzhik (July) and Krasnodar (September). From Krasnodar, the Group launched 12 new routes (7 domestic, 5 international).

Regional service to the popular Chinese resort of Sanya was significantly expanded. Overall, passenger traffic to China surged more than 30%, surpassing 1 million travelers for the year.

The Group’s fleet totaled 352 aircraft, including three under wet-lease agreements, sufficing to meet its traffic goals. During the year, three Boeing 747s were restored to service, with plans to add another wet-leased aircraft in the current year.

Looking ahead to 2026, Aeroflot aims to maintain passenger volumes and achieve a positive financial result, with a continued strategic focus on the domestic Russian market.