Deputy head of the Ministry of Transport Chalik saw no reason for a 40% increase in airfare

Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia Igor Chalik said that reports of a possible increase in prices for flights up to 40% are unfounded. Earlier in an interview RBC co-owner of Vnukovo and Azimut airline Vitaly Vantsev said that the cost of air tickets for flights within Russia in 2023 could increase by 15-20%, and for international flights by 40%.

The Deputy Minister of Transport assured that the prices for air tickets traditionally grow in the summer – this allows compensating for the lost profit of the “low” season. He referred to the operational monitoring of the Ministry of Transport, according to which there were no abnormally high jumps in prices for transportation on domestic routes in the summer. Therefore, the Deputy Minister added that the information about the increase in prices for flights up to 40% has no basis.

Igor Chalik cited data from the FAS Russia: the growth in the weighted average ticket price for domestic flights for the period from January to May compared to the same period in 2022 amounted to 6.2%, or 420 rubles.

According to Igor Chalik, Russian airlines are increasing transportation within the country and using high-capacity aircraft that were previously used on international routes. As the Deputy Minister noted, since the beginning of the year, Aeroflot has increased its commercial load to a record 88%.

“A situation has developed on the transportation market in which there are no restrictions on carrying capacities. The airlines themselves are not interested in setting high tariffs that limit demand. Competition for a passenger does not allow carriers to raise tariffs, ”said the deputy minister, his words are quoted in a press release that Kommersant has.

The deputy minister also said that state subsidies for air transportation do not allow the price of transportation to grow: for example, the total budget for such programs for 2023 amounted to about 25 billion rubles, the total amount of support for the aviation industry – 57 billion rubles.

Anastasia Larina