Air ticket prices in Russia have risen by 40% since the beginning of the year

The average prices for air tickets for flights to Russia increased significantly in the first two months of 2024. Thus, in January the growth was 33.9% in annual terms, in February the prices rose already by 42%. This is reported by RBC with reference to Rosstat data.

The average price of a flight in economy class rose to 7,244 rubles for one thousand kilometers of flight. It is noted that the February price has already exceeded the cost of flights at the peak of the 2022 aviation season and almost reached the cost in July 2023. In July, prices reach their maximum value due to increased demand.

In February, flight prices rose by almost 13% compared to January, which was the sharpest jump since 2008. The most noticeable price increases were for flights to Barnaul (88%), Grozny (84%), Blagoveshchensk (77%), Murmansk (76%) and Ulan-Ude (71%).

According to “Yandex Travel”, tickets are on sale in March at prices already 50% higher than last year’s.

The representative of the Smartavia company noted that the increase in prices is influenced by rising costs – the cost of fuel, increased import prices, airport maintenance costs, as well as the amount of subsidies and the state of the aircraft fleet. The Ministry of Transport noted that subsidized flights will be carried out on 360 routes, the authorities allocated 25 billion rubles for subsidies. In the spring of 2023, the department warned of an increase in ticket prices of up to 30% due to a reduction in subsidies. In 2022, the amount of subsidies amounted to 100 billion rubles. In 2023, the authorities budgeted 53.6 billion for subsidies.

According to the results of 2023, a record 24.5% increase in air tickets since 2008 was noted.

• After the start of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, the European Union banned the delivery of aircraft and spare parts to Russia, as well as their maintenance and insurance. The USA restricted the export of aviation industry goods and imposed sanctions against Aeroflot and other Russian airlines.
• In March, Russia passed a law allowing the registration of foreign aircraft leased from Russian companies.
• In June, former Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov admitted that foreign aircraft will have to be disassembled for spare parts as the liners become obsolete. According to him, the aviation industry of Russia will live under this scheme for about five years.