Putin met with the head of Aeroflot Aleksandrovsky

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Aeroflot CEO Sergei Alexandrovsky, reported on the Kremlin website. They discussed support measures for the airline, development prospects and the purchase of new aircraft.

per group “Aeroflot”As part of subsidizing passenger traffic, 50 billion rubles were allocated, in April – May 10.3 billion rubles were received, 15 billion rubles. was allocated for the return of tickets, of which 12.5 billion rubles have already been received, Aleksandrovsky told the president. He noted that he assesses the situation with air travel in 2022 “very positive and stable” thanks to government support measures. According to the CEO of Aeroflot, they made it possible to increase traffic volumes compared to 2021.

“Despite the fact that a number of southern airports have been closed, we have refocused demand on demanded alternative destinations. We now fly to 111 destinations, which is 18 destinations more than in 2021. In a number of destinations, we have significantly increased our volumes, for example, on the Moscow-St. 25 daily frequencies, in Minvody – from two to eight daily frequencies. And in a number of other areas, there was also a significant increase,” Aleksandrovsky said. He also noted that it was possible to maintain the cost of tickets for passengers – compared to 2021, in 2022 their cost at Aeroflot decreased by 10%, compared to 2019 – by 21%. At the same time, Pobeda’s average load is 95%, while Aeroflot’s is about 91-95%.

When asked by Putin about the assessment of the development of the situation in the medium term, the head of Aeroflot replied that the carrier was updating its strategy and that it was “fully synchronized with the comprehensive program for the development of the transport industry until 2030.” “Aeroflot» plans to contract 323 Russian-made aircraft, including 73 Sukhoi Superjet aircraft, 210 MS-21 aircraft, and 40 Tu-214 aircraft.

“These are very significant volumes, they will, of course, require additional resources from us. It will be necessary to increase and attract additional pilots in the amount of about 3,500 people for this program, and eight full-flight simulators will also be required, that is, this is a serious impetus for the development of the company not only in the medium, but also in the long term, I would say,” Aleksandrovsky said. Putin noted that “there was no such order for a long time.”

Aleksandrovsky previously headed the Rossiya airline (part of the Aeroflot group). He began acting as CEO of Aeroflot in March 2022, when the company’s previous head, Mikhail Poluboyarinov (took office in November 2020), left his post ahead of schedule shortly after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. In April, the board of directors approved Aleksandrovsky for the position of general director of the carrier for a period of three months; in July, his powers were extended for five years.