Russian airlines lost 121 billion in six months

The total amount of losses of 35 largest Russian airlines, which carry out 99% of passenger transportation, amounted to 121 billion rubles in the first half of the year. This figure appeared after the companies’ reporting analysis, said Boris Shokurov, Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Air Transport Operators.

Previously, the Association predicted that Russian companies would lose 70 billion in the first six months, and almost 300 billion by the end of the year. However, Aeroflot alone had lost about 70.33 billion rubles for six months, according to the organization’s balance sheet.

The association explains the losses of airlines by a decrease in the volume of flights by Covid-19 pandemic, an increase in fuel prices, as well as the surge in currencies rates. At the same time, the tariffs of the companies on the most demanded routes for the indicated period decreased by about 30%.

In total, according to the results of the first half of the year, 30.7 million passengers used air flights in Russia, which is half as much as in the same period last year. A significant decrease occurred in the second quarter, when the number of passengers fell from 38.1 million to 4.6 million.