Belavia’s traffic rises 8.4% in 2025, still half-way from precrisis peak

:: Belavia

Belavia, the national airline of Belarus, carried 2.093 million passengers in 2025, marking an 8.4% year-on-year increase. However, this figure remains only halfway to restoring the carrier’s pre-pandemic performance. To match its 2019 record of over 4 million passengers—a level last seen before the impacts of COVID-19, international sanctions, and airspace restrictions—Belavia would need to double its current traffic. For now, its passenger volume matches that of 2015.

The airline’s recovery continues to be constrained by denied access and the closure of key airspaces, particularly over Europe and Ukraine, which has all but eliminated its once-lucrative transit business. In 2019, transit flights accounted for roughly 2 million passengers alone.

Fleet renewal also remains a challenge, yet 2025 saw a notable breakthrough: through unconventional means, Belavia introduced its first widebody aircraft, two off-market Airbus A330-200s. These additions enabled the launch of several long-haul services and contributed to an 11.2% increase in revenue passenger-kilometers, which reached 5.540 billion.

Over the year, Belavia opened or resumed 10 routes. New long-haul services from Minsk include flights to Sanya, China, Mattala, Sri Lanka, and Phu Quoc, Vietnam. The carrier also reinstated regular service to Almaty, Kazakhstan and launched a charter program to Oman.

Beyond the capital, the network expanded with new regular flights to Russia—Mogilev to Moscow and Brest to St. Petersburg—as well as holiday charters from Mogilev to Antalya, Turkey and Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, and from Brest to Sharm El-Sheikh. Regional airports accounted for 1,675 flights, serving 145,110 passengers.

Belavia does not operate domestic flights.

The airline reported a strong average seat load factor of 85.9% for the year.

On the cargo side, Belavia moved 3.310 tons of freight, up 59.7% year-on-year, while cargo turnover nearly doubled to 13 million RTKs—a striking 92% growth compared to 2024.