Page 115 - RusRPTJul21

9.1.3 Aviation sector news
In May, Russian traffic grew to -18% of the 2019 level (from -23% a month ago). Analysts calculate that while the international market was unchanged at -75% (vs. -73% in April), the domestic one stood at +30% (vs. +12%).
VTBC said in a note: In our view, this preserves Russia’s second place in the world traffic recovery stats, after China (which has not published data since March). In Turkey, traffic was hit by new lockdowns, and was at -70% to May 2019 (vs. - 63% in April). In Europe, it was -73% (vs. -72%), and in the US it was -33% (vs. -41%). We believe that the global recovery will continue in June, with Europe finally showing an improvement, after seven months of stagnation.
In Russia, total traffic was 9mn PAX, -18% to May 2019 (an improvement from the -23% in April). On our calculations, domestic traffic was +30% (vs. +12% in April), and international was -75% (unchanged). Aeroflot Group carried 4mn PAX, -26% to May 2019 (vs. -35%). We remind readers that the company targeted having all of its aircraft flying in June, after 25% of them were idled in 1Q21. Other industry metrics were as follows: fuel prices in May stood at RUB42k/t, up 6% m/m, and airfares were up 2% m/m. We note that the growth in yields not only compensated for the fuel increase, but also shows that demand for flights in Russia is strong and allows airlines to introduce
115 RUSSIA Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com