Passenger traffic on Russian airlines rebounds

Russian airlines' traffic is once again in a climb (Photo by Leonid Faerberg / transport-photo.com)

According to the latest data from the Federal Air Transport Agency, the downward trend in Russian airlines’ passenger flow reversed in February 2016—the total passenger traffic showed a bit of growth, amounting to 0.2% year-on-year. Over the course of the month, the airlines served 5.121 million passengers, versus the 5.112 million passengers served in February of last year. The Agency, however, did not specify individual figures for international and domestic destinations.

The Federal Air Transport Agency has also mentioned that cargo handling increased by 0.1%, amounting to 73.445 metric tons. In February 2015, the country’s airlines carried 73.364 metric tons of cargo and mail.

In January 2016, the total passenger traffic carried on Russian airlines decreased by 6.1%; during that month, the carriers served 5.540 million passengers (this drop was due to international flights only). In total, 10.661 million passengers were served in the first two months of 2016.  This is a 3.3% decrease over the amount of passengers carried during the same period in 2015, when this figure stood at 11.020 million. In the meantime, Russian airlines to date have carried 151.542 tons of mail and cargo, versus 145.093 tons in January-February 2015. (4.4% increase).

According to the 2016 forecasts of the Federal Air Transport Agency, the airlines’ performance figures will be steady, mostly thanks to investments in airport infrastructures and subsidies in the air transport.