RBC: the profit of the leading airlines reached a record 88 billion rubles

The total profit of the 27 leading Russian passenger airlines at the end of last year amounted to 87.8 billion rubles, which is 2.8 times more than the results for 2021, writes RBChaving analyzed their reporting under RAS.

The net profit of S7 Airlines grew 2.3 times and reached 34.4 billion rubles, and the profit of Ural Airlines increased 2.5 times, to 13.5 billion rubles, which was a record for both companies in at least six years. The profit of Pobeda increased by 4.4 times, reaching the maximum level of 15 billion rubles in the history of the carrier.

After the imposition of sanctions against the Russian FederationAeroflot“and his daughter” Russia “stopped disclosing financial statements, recalls the publication. In 2021, they recorded a net loss of 45.6 billion and 382 million rubles. net income, respectively.

According to experts interviewed by RBC, airlines’ profits grew due to government subsidies and cost optimization. State support in 2022 amounted to a record 172.3 billion rubles, with 100 billion rubles. were allocated to support domestic flights. The funds were distributed among 32 airlines, half of which was received by the Aeroflot group.

Thanks to subsidies, it was possible to prevent the rise in ticket prices, while maintaining the availability of air transportation for the population. And the seat occupancy rate increased to 84% (+2.5 p.p.). Deferred lease payments, the end of costly aircraft maintenance abroad, and the use of stocks of spare parts instead of buying new ones also played a role.

Earlier, the Ministry of Transport requested government subsidies for domestic airlines for transportation in the summer season, Vedomosti wrote. For the winter season (November 2022 – March 2023), airlines were allocated RUB 25.3 billion, which made it possible to transport 27.4 million passengers within the country. The agency fears that due to the lack of subsidies to carriers, prices for flights in the summer schedule will increase.

For the 1st quarter of 2023, Russian airlines increased passenger traffic by 4.5% to 20.7 million compared to the same period in 2022, and as of April 16, airlines carried 24 million passengers – 709,000 people more than planned. The forecast for passenger traffic for the whole of 2023 is 101 million passengers, Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev said at the end of March.