Passenger air travel
Main article: Passenger air travel
2024
14 airports in Russia by passenger traffic
In January 2025, the Analytical Service of Russian Airports presented a rating of the country's air harbors by the number of passengers served in 2024. Moscow airports showed an increase in passenger traffic by 6.2% compared to 2023, mainly due to Sheremetyevo airport.
According to ATOR, in 2024 Sheremetyevo Airport became the leader in passenger traffic among Russian airports. General Director of Vnukovo Airport Dmitry Erzakovich announced the return of the air harbor to third place in the ranking and reaching the first position in servicing passengers of foreign airlines.
Domodedovo dropped to the fourth line of the rating after the decommissioning of part of the fleet of the base carrier S7 Airlines and the reorientation of the company to the Siberian direction. In 2019, the airport ranked second in the all-Russian ranking.
Yekaterinburg Koltsovo showed significant growth in the international segment - by 35%, serving 2.2 million passengers in foreign directions, which is more than a quarter of the total passenger traffic of the airport.
Sochi Airport set a record in the international segment, serving 1.7 million passengers on foreign flights, which is 13% higher than in 2023. Mineralnye Vody also improved its result, serving 1.07 million international passengers.
In the Siberian region, Krasnoyarsk Airport (Emelyanovo) was significantly ahead of Irkutsk in passenger traffic and growth rates. Passenger traffic between Krasnoyarsk and Yekaterinburg increased by 140%, and between Krasnoyarsk and Tashkent - by 187%.
Mineralnye Vody and Kaliningrad demonstrated the most dynamic growth among regional airports, entering the top 10 Russian air harbors. At the same time, the passenger traffic of Sochi Airport has doubled over the past five years.[1]
Allocated 250 billion rubles for the reconstruction of 75 airports
By 2030, the Russian government will modernize the infrastructure of at least 75 airports throughout the country. This was announced on December 22, 2024 by the president. Russia Vladimir Putin
According to him, the development of aviation passenger transportation in the country is a priority area. The government has been tasked with modernizing the infrastructure of at least 75 airports in six years, which is more than a third of Russia's airport network. For the corresponding purposes, 250 billion rubles of direct budget financing are provided. It is expected that the implementation of the project will allow by 2030 to increase the intensity of air traffic in Russia by one and a half times in relation to the indicators of 2023.
As he has repeatedly said, it is necessary to actively increase direct flights within and between regions, to reconstruct regional airports and airfields. Today we are taking another step in this direction - we are opening three new, modern terminals at the airports of Stavropol, Magadan and Cheboksary at once, "Putin said. |
The development of airport infrastructure is provided for by the national program "Effective Transport System." By the end of 2024, construction work was completed at seven airports. Modern objects have been created on the site of outdated air harbors built in the 60-70s of the twentieth century. In 2025, it is planned to complete the reconstruction and construction of several more air terminals, including Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Blagoveshchensk and Novokuznetsk.
In general, I want to appeal to the leaders of the regions. It is necessary to put the infrastructure around the airports in order, transport and all sorts of other things. So that this place is not only beautiful externally, but also accessible, convenient for people, for residents of the regions and for guests of the regions where we are now opening airports, "Putin stressed.[2] |
A new terminal was built at the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky airport for billions of rubles
In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the construction of a new passenger terminal of the international airport located in the city of Elizovo has been completed. The project, the cost of which is estimated at billions of rubles, was implemented by Crocus International JSC, a member of the Crocus Group. The area of the new building exceeds 50 thousand square meters, and its throughput will be 1.145 thousand passengers per hour. This was announced by the Governor of the Kamchatka Territory Vladimir Solodov at a meeting with the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Russia Irek Fayzullin, which was held on October 25, 2024. Read more here.
A new terminal of Baikal International Airport in Ulan-Ude was built for ₽1,6 billion
The construction of a new terminal worth ₽1,6 billion has been completed at the Baikal International Airport in Ulan-Ude. As of October 23, 2024, the facility is preparing for commissioning, scheduled for November. Read more here.
An airport for civilian ships will be built in Smolensk for ₽7,7 billion
In October 2024, a tender for the construction of the Smolensk-Severny civil airport worth ₽7,7 billion was published. The project is being implemented in accordance with the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, based on the results of a meeting on socio-economic development of the Smolensk region in September 2023. Read more here.
In Yaroslavl, begin to build the airport "Golden Ring" for ₽5 billion
On October 14, 2024, it became known about the construction of a new international airport "Golden Ring" in Yaroslavl. The project is estimated at more than ₽5 billion and will be implemented through private investment. The completion of the construction and commissioning of the new airport complex is scheduled for 2027. Read more here.
₽11 billion pledged to protect Russian airports from drones
The Russian government plans to allocate more than ₽11 billion to protect public and private airports from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the next two years. These funds are intended to ensure the safety of 11 category I air transport infrastructure facilities. This became known at the end of September 2024. Read more here.
₽166 billion will be allocated for the development of civil airfields
The Russian government plans to allocate ₽166 billion for the implementation of the project "Development of the support network of airfields" in the period from 2025 to 2027. The decision to allocate funds was made as part of the formation of the federal budget for the upcoming three-year period. This became known at the end of September 2024. The implementation of the project for the development of the airfield network is designed to significantly improve the transport accessibility of the regions of Russia and contribute to the economic development of the country as a whole.
According to Interfax, the Russian Ministry of Finance announced the distribution of funding by year: in 2025 it is planned to allocate ₽25,8 billion, in 2026 - ₽54,5 billion, and in 2027 - ₽85,6 billion. These funds are intended for the development of airfield infrastructure within the framework of the new national project "Transport."
The project "Development of the supporting network of airfields" is part of a larger state program "Development of the transport system," for which a total of ₽4,8 trillion is planned to be allocated over three years. In 2025, about ₽1,5 trillion will be allocated for this program, and in 2026 and 2027 - ₽1,7 trillion annually.
According to the plans of the Ministry of Transport of Russia and the Federal Air Transport Agency, by 2030 the number of civil airfields in Russia should increase from the current 228 to 242. To achieve this goal, a list of 129 airfields to be modernized has been formed. Reconstruction and new construction are planned at 76 facilities, and major repairs at 53.
Earlier, the Ministry of Transport of Russia estimated the total amount of funding for the project "Development of the support network of airfields" for the period 2025-2030 at ₽381,1 billion. Of this amount, it was planned to attract ₽264,7 billion from the federal budget, ₽82,4 billion from extrabudgetary sources, and the remaining ₽33,9 billion from regional budgets.[3]
A new Levashovo airport was completely built in St. Petersburg for 41 billion rubles
St. Petersburg The construction of the new Levashovo airport was completed, investments in which amounted to ₽41 billion Gosstroynadzor in July 2024 issued a permit for the commissioning of the fourth, final stage of the facility. More here
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.
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. [4]
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.
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.[5]
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.
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%.[6]
Notes
- ↑ Air passengers became cramped in Russia
- ↑ Opening of transport infrastructure facilities
- ↑ 166 billion rubles will be allocated for the development of airfields in 2025-2027
- ↑ Three new million-plus airports appeared in Russia
- ↑ Russia's largest airports report profit growth amid sanctions
- ↑ The largest Russian airports increased profits by 5.5 times