The Russian aviation industry is losing 19 million passengers in the current year alone due to the flight bans imposed by Moscow in the wake of the Ukraine war in southern Russia. That is about a fifth of the planned total transport figures, the business newspaper "Vedomosti" reported on Monday, citing the Ministry of Transport.
The aviation industry is one of the hardest hit sectors in Russia by the war. The airspace over Europe and North America is closed to Russia. Western sanctions also ban the supply and maintenance of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which form the backbone of Russian airlines. Moscow has therefore hastily decided to re-register many machines and stopped air traffic to a number of countries for fear of the jets being confiscated.
In addition, the Russian government has imposed a flight ban over the south of its own country since February due to ongoing hostilities. Eleven airports cannot be served, including those in the Black Sea resorts of Anapa and Gelendzhik and in Simferopol in Crimea, annexed by Russia since 2014.
This has serious consequences, especially in the holiday months: In June, the airlines were missing 2.7 million passengers, in July and August there is a risk of a deficit of 3.2 and 3.3 million passengers. The Russian leadership has promised the airlines state aid of 100 billion rubles (1.7 billion euros).
Also read:
- Ukraine War: How hard Western sanctions are hitting Russian aviation
- How the Ukraine war is disrupting air traffic around the world
- "Everything was gigantic" - how a photographer experienced his flight with the Antonov An-225
