Passenger traffic in Russia continues its double-digit growth flight path

Russian airlines carried 8.6 million passengers in November 2018, up 13.2 per cent on the same month last year (SuperJet International)

Passenger traffic in Russia continued its double-digit growth flight path in November as Russian airlines carried 8.6 million passengers, up 13.2 per cent on the same month last year. The growth rate in the international segment was higher than in domestic at 16.7 per cent (3.34 million passengers) against 11.1 per cent (5.22 million), respectively.

Privately owned S7 Airlines, the country’s number two carrier, once again demonstrated the most dynamic development among the country’s top-five airlines. In the period from January to November it carried 10.7 million passengers, 17.4 per cent up year-on-year. Ural Airlines saw its traffic climb by 13.3 per cent to 8.4 million passengers. Russia’s national carrier and market leader Aeroflot served 32.8 million passengers in the period, up 8.5 per cent year-on-year. Its low-cost subsidiary Pobeda Airlines, currently the sixth largest and climbing, carried 6.5 million passengers, exceeding the previous year’s results by a remarkable 58.2 per cent.

In the meantime, freight volumes in November continued to slide, according to data collected by country’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya. Last month, Russian airlines carried 108,800 tonnes, down 5.2 per cent on the same month last year. The year’s peak growth in the segment was registered in January at 8.6 per cent, but in October the freight segment went into a dive, which is now evident both on international (82,100 tonnes, down 5.9 per cent) and domestic (26,700 tonnes down three per cent) routes. At the same time, cargo traffic between Russia and the CIS countries climbed by 17.1 per cent to 2,800 tonnes.

AirBridgeCargo remains Russia’s largest airline by freight volumes but it was also affected by the decline. In January to November it carried 553,400 tonnes, just 2.5 per cent more than for the same period last year. Nevertheless, during the first 10 months, its average growth was 3.5 per cent.

From small beginnings, Russia’s low-cost carrier Pobeda continues to embrace the freight segment, demonstrating a colossal 938.2 per cent growth rate for the period. Its parent company, Aeroflot, which ranks second largest by cargo traffic, carried 203,100 tonnes, down 1.3 per cent year-on-year.