Page 97 - RusRPTMay20

9.1.3​ Aviation sector news
Russian airlines carried 6.4mn passengers in March 2020, a 28% decline in traffic​, according to the data of the Rosaviatsia state aviation agency. While passenger turnover posted 6.5% growth in February, 1Q20 overall saw a 5.9% decline to 23.3mn passengers. Reuters reminds on April 28 that Russia’s largest national carrier Aeroflot reported a 34% turnover decline to 3mn passengers in March. As reported by ​bne IntelliNews​, ​Russian aviation market passenger traffic could fall from 120mn passengers annually to 60mn ​ after the strict lockdown measures are lifted, the owner of S7 air carrier Vladislav Filev told ​Kommersant​ daily in an interview last week. Should the government decide to keep traffic stable, airlines would require around RUB350bn-400bn, ($4.71bn-5.38bn) but the probability of such support is "close to zero," Filev believes. The head of S7 does not anticipate international flights restarting until April 2021, as governments will likely prolong travel limitations due to the second possible wave of the pandemic.
Total Russian aviation market passenger traffic could fall from 120mn passengers annually to 60mn after the strict lockdown measures are lifted, ​the owner of S7 air carrier Vladislav Filev told ​Kommersant d​ aily in an interview. As reported bybn​e IntelliNews,​ as Russia shut its borders, private S7 has for the first time ​beaten national air carrier Aeroflot on the domestic market in April​, getting an edge through its fleet of smaller planes and maintaining inter-regional hubs. Should the government decide to keep traffic stable, airlines would require around RUB350bn-400bn, ($4.71bn-5.38bn) but the probability of such support is "close to zero," Filev believes. Filev does not expect international flights to restart until April 2021, as governments will likely prolong travel limitations due to the second possible wave of the pandemic. He noted that the airlines are in urgent need of visibility on state support, in order to draw conclusions about the potential size of the market after the crisis. S7 is
97​ RUSSIA Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com