Ural Airlines posts 840% revenue growth

Ural Airlines’ 2016 net profit amounted to 2.692 billion rubles ($45.63 million) (Photo by Leonid Faerberg / Transport-Photo.com)

Ural Airlines, Russia’s fifth largest carrier, posted a net profit of 2.692 billion rubles ($45.63 million) for last year, demonstrating a year-on-year growth of 9.4 times, reads the airline’s 2016 performance report made to the Russian Accounting Standards. The main drivers behind the boost in the airline’s financial results are understood to have been the growing air travel market and capacity cuts undertaken by the management.

Ural Airlines’ 2016 income less VAT and excises stood at 57.321 billion rubles, up 30.7% on the year before.

The carrier transported 6.467 million passengers, or 18.8% up year-on-year. The upward trend continued into 2017, surging by 35.1% in January and by a further 27.4% in February.

A radical reduction of the Russian airlines’ combined fleet may have contributed to Ural Airlines’ success. Industry experts say the capacity cuts exceeded the actual traffic decline in 2016, allowing the operators to raise their yield.

Earlier, Russia’s largets airline group, Aeroflot, reported its 2016 results, which were equally positive.