Domestic operators win back Russian bizav market

Sochi is one of the most popular destinations for private charters in Russia (Photo by Basel Aero)

Russian business aviation operators are increasing their share on the domestic market, Alexander Kuleshov, board chairman at the Russian United Business Aviation Association (RUBAA), told the audience of the Business Aviation Forum held on the eve of JetExpo 2016.

According to Kuleshov, the number of Russian business aviation operators at the Moscow airports stood at 5,062 in the first six months of 2016, or 20% up on 2015 and 22% up on 2014. The number of foreign operators in the area remains much greater, at 14,169 in the first half of the year, but it is shrinking (20% down from the 2015 level and 34% down from 2014).

RUBAA reports that 80% of all Russian bizav traffic passes via Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, and Sochi, and that traffic via the Moscow airports periodically peaks at 75% of all bizav flights operated in Russia. Russian airports served 65,138 bizav passengers in the first half of the year, compared to 73,692 in 2015 and 88,052 in 2014.

Kuleshov noted that bizav flights from Moscow serve 6,725 international destinations, the most popular ones being Nice (10% of all flights), London (7.3%), and Geneva (2.6%). Domestically, 2016 bizav flights connect Moscow with 3,756 cities, including the most popular destinations of St. Petersburg (18%), Sochi (7%), Simferopol (2,8%).