Airports in Russia

Passenger air travel

Main article: Passenger air travel

2023

3 new million-plus airports appeared in Russia

In 2023, three new airports appeared in Russia with an annual passenger traffic exceeding 1 million people. At the end of January 2024, the RBC edition drew attention to this following the study of published statistics.

Saratov Airport Gagarin"," which served 1.07 million passengers in 2023, as well as Orenburg Airport (1.04 million passengers), was added to millionaires. In addition, the bar of a million passengers for the first time managed to overcome the airport of Grozny, which increased passenger traffic by 29.3% compared to 2022.

source = RBC

At the same time, in the Arkhangelsk Talagi, the figure decreased to 430 thousand people a year. Such a decline is explained by the fact that the airport was closed from spring to December 2023. It is specified that technical work was carried out on the runway to restore coverage. The local small airport Vaskovo temporarily replaced Talagi to receive international and federal flights.

At the same time, airports in Irkutsk and Kazan showed the best result in terms of passenger growth - 44% and 29%, respectively. The press service of the Kazan air harbor saw a connection between the change of international destinations in the last two years and an increase in the number of passengers.

In 2023, a number of airports turned out to be close to overcoming the mark of 1 million passengers. In Blagoveshchensk (part of the ABS), 914 thousand passengers were served, in Elizovo (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, part of the Airports of the Regions) - 900 thousand people, a representative of the holding said. More than 916 thousand passengers were served by Vladikavkaz airport, in Chita (Trans-Baikal Territory) more than 731 thousand were served (+ 26% by 2022), a representative of Novaport said.

Sheremetyevo (36.6 million people) remained the leader in passenger traffic among Russian airports in 2023. St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport (20.4 million passengers) took the second place. ^[1]

Mishustin allocated 1 billion rubles for the reconstruction of airports in Dagestan and Yakutia

In November 2023, the Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to allocate about 1 billion rubles for the reconstruction of airports in and. Dagestan Yakutia According to the press service of the Cabinet, the funds are directed "as advance financing." More. here

Airports closed due to military operation allocated 2.6 billion rubles

The Russian government has allocated more than 2.6 billion rubles to support airports in the south and center of Russia. The corresponding order of September 1, 2023 was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

These funds were sent from the government reserve fund to airports in the central and southern regions to partially compensate for their expenses due to the extension of flight restrictions. We are talking about supporting airports in, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar Anapa, Gelendzhik, Elista,,,, Lipetsk, and Belgorod Bryansk Kursk Voronezh Simferopol, where the service of civil flights is temporarily suspended.

The government has allocated more than 2.6 billion rubles to support airports in the south and center of Russia

In May 2023, almost 2.5 billion rubles were allocated from the Government's reserve fund for the same purposes. The amount of subsidies was reduced three times compared to 2022, Vedomosti wrote then. One of the newspaper's sources justified the decrease in funding by the fact that airports did not fully use the allocated funds in 2022.

In April 2023, the Association of Air Transport Operators appealed to the Ministry of Transport with a proposal to consider the extension of the subsidy to air carriers for 100 billion rubles until October 2023. The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance confirmed that they are considering the option of maintaining state support within the framework of domestic transportation for the summer season.

Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviaport, considers targeted transportation support programs aimed at socially vulnerable segments of the population or at supporting tourism to be a "rational approach." In addition, he adds, the support of the fleet through subsidies for the purchase of aircraft from lessors, maintenance and repair of equipment, training of personnel can stand apart.

These areas should be a priority, since they ensure the stability of the industry as a whole, Panteleev is sure.

Government of the Russian Federation Order of September 1, 2023 No. 2350-r

2022

Profit growth by 13.8% to 116.3 billion rubles

The total revenue of the largest airports in Russia in 2022 amounted to 116.3 billion rubles and net profit - 32.2 billion rubles. Compared to 2021, these financial indicators increased by 13.8% and 6.6%, respectively. This was reported on May 23, 2023 by the publication with reference to the reports of companies under RAS.

The publication notes that the total net profit of 27 leading Russian passenger airlines in 2022 reached a record 87.8 billion rubles, which is 2.8 times higher than in 2021.

In 2022, Russian airports served 185.4 million passengers, that is, 9% less than in 2021 (204.8 million), said the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko in March 2023 at the final board of the department. But if 11 airports in the south and central part of Russia were operating, the drop in passenger traffic would be only 0.3%, the official cited. A significant decrease in the number of travelers was noted only at large international airports, for example, at the Moscow air hub. First of all, this is due to the closure of international communication with unfriendly countries, Neradko noted.

However, according to RBC, the total number of passengers at 28 airports with a population of one million (with the exception of Sheremetyevo) who disclosed their reports in 2022 increased by 0.7%, to 131.5 million passengers. The maximum reduction for the year - by 15.4% - in Domodedovo. Against this background, the operator of the airfield, Domodedovo Erfield, received a net loss of 105.1 million rubles.

The largest include 29 Russian airports, each of which in 2022 served more than 1 million passengers. But Sheremetyevo Airport, the largest passenger traffic, does not disclose data for 2022 "taking into account current factors" (Western sanctions against Russia), its representative told RBC.^[2]

Airlines and airports are trying to prevent the mobilization of their IT specialists

On September 23, 2022, it became known that employees of airlines and airports in Russia began to massively receive summons to military registration and enlistment offices. The industry is afraid to lose important specialists, including in the field of information technology, due to partial mobilization. Read more here.

2021: Revenues of the largest Russian airports increased 5.5 times

The total revenue of Russian airports in 2021 reached 148 billion rubles (+ 48.5% by 2020), net profit - 45 billion rubles (this is 5.5 times more than in 2020). This was reported on June 8, 2022 by RBC, citing company reports. Journalists analyzed the documents of the 32 largest airports.

The largest Russian airports have a large share of non-aviation revenue, however, with a reduction in international flights, revenues fall, for example, from duty free stores, explained Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport agency. Domestic Russian traffic has grown thanks to subsidized flights, but the purchasing power of their passengers is lower. Therefore, taking into account the increase in tariffs for domestic transportation in 2020-2021. airports failed to achieve a pre-pandemic level of profitability.

Revenues of the largest Russian airports in 2021 increased 5.5 times

It is noted that the revenue of the 15 largest passenger airlines in 2021 increased by 71%. The indicators reached 1.11 trillion rubles. However, the same companies ended the year with a net loss of 19 billion rubles. In addition, the total revenue of the seven largest freight airlines increased by 31%, to 233 billion rubles. Their net profit added 26%, increasing to 62 billion rubles.

The largest include 32 airports. Each of them in 2021 served more than 1 million passengers; total - 178 million passengers (87% of the total traffic of Russian airports). For each airport, reports were taken according to the RAS of the company - the operator of the airfield (data from the Federal Air Transport Agency for March 2022).

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, in 2021 the passenger traffic of all airports amounted to 205 million people. This is 58% more than in 2020 (130 million). But 7% less than in 2019 (221 million). International traffic in 2021 accounted for 14%, in 2020 - 13%, in 2019 - 34%.^[3]

Notes