Rise in price on approach – Newspaper Kommersant No. 179 (7380) of 09/28/2022

Following a sharp surge in demand for tickets to Turkey, Yerevan and the United Arab Emirates, against the background of the announced mobilization, Russians actively rushed to Norway, Kazakhstan and Mongolia through the border cities of Murmansk, Omsk, Orsk and Chelyabinsk. Prices for some flights have increased by two or three times, at the peak of up to ten times more expensive, and tickets are sold out. At the same time, in mid-September, the Federal Air Transport Agency, as Kommersant learned, canceled the monitoring of ticket prices across the country, which it had been conducting since spring. The department promises to continue to monitor the availability of transportation, but experts believe that the activity of passengers will come to naught in the coming week.

After the announcement of the mobilization, the Russians discovered alternative routes to Kazakhstan, Norway and Mongolia, which led to a rise in the cost of domestic flights. Against the backdrop of a rush in prices for international flights in Russia, air tickets to “border” destinations – to Murmansk, Omsk, Orsk and Chelyabinsk – have risen sharply in price.

So, according to Kommersant’s sources in the air ticket booking market, the average cost of a flight from Moscow to Murmansk in the first week of September fluctuated from 4 thousand to 5 thousand rubles. with a booking depth from “for tomorrow” to several days. Now the demand has increased due to the possibility of leaving by car to the Norwegian city of Kirkenes, 8 km from the Russian border, sources in the tourism market say. The cheapest flight with baggage in Aeroflot on September 28 will cost from 17.7 thousand to 40.8 thousand rubles. in economy class, tickets for each of the six flights are nearly sold out. S7 has only a business class for sale from 38.3 thousand rubles.

Direct flights from St. Petersburg to Murmansk in the first week of September cost about 5-6 thousand rubles. For flights on September 28, the cheapest Smartavia ticket will cost 13.6 thousand rubles, business class “Rossiya” – 42 thousand rubles, on September 29 and 30 it had one ticket for 22 thousand and 19 thousand rubles. rub. respectively.

Flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Orsk, from where the Russians get to Kazakhstan, on average in the first week they cost up to 5.7 thousand rubles. On September 28 and 29, Aeroflot could fly for 40 thousand rubles, Nordwind – 63 thousand rubles. with a decrease to 23 thousand rubles. from September 30 for both carriers. From St. Petersburg on the same dates, “Russia” can fly for 40 thousand rubles. Chelyabinsk also became a popular transfer to Kazakhstan, accessible at the beginning of the month for 3.5–6 thousand rubles: the only direct flight from Moscow by Pobeda on Wednesday cost 26 thousand rubles, in the next two days it was possible to fly from 15 thousand up to 40 thousand rubles. (Victory, Aeroflot and S7). From St. Petersburg, the price of a low-cost airline started from 50 thousand rubles. on September 28, “Russia” had several tickets from 25 thousand rubles. On Thursday, you could fly with Pobeda for 12 thousand rubles, S7 – for 39 thousand rubles, by Friday prices started at 10.5 thousand rubles.

AT Omsk, according to aggregators, tickets a few weeks ago cost 3-6 thousand rubles. According to interlocutors in the aviation industry, the city has become the most popular transit point to Kazakhstan. The only remaining Aeroflot ticket for September 28 cost 48,000 rubles. A day later, Pobeda and Ural Airlines offered flights from 37 thousand and 42 thousand rubles. respectively. On Friday there were low-cost airline tickets from 25 thousand rubles. Direct flights from St. Petersburg for all three days at Rossiya and Nordwind cost 40-46 thousand rubles. Tickets to Ulan-Ude, where some citizens seek to get to the border with Mongolia, on September 28 rose in price to 50 thousand rubles. and drop to 22 thousand rubles. in the next two days, approaching the average estimate at the beginning of the month. The airlines did not respond to Kommersant’s requests.

Apparently, they do not plan to penalize carriers for a rise in price: according to Kommersant, on September 16, the Federal Air Transport Agency notified the companies that it had stopped monitoring the cost of transportation and requesting relevant information.

On behalf of the Ministry of Transport, since spring, carriers have been reporting on the cost of tickets at least on flights to Sochi and Kaliningrad. In Rosaviatsia, Kommersant clarified that they continue to control prices for subsidized regional flights, and also weekly “during meetings, carriers are advised to maintain tariffs at the level of last year’s indicators.” The Ministry of Transport forwarded questions to the FAS, where Kommersant was told that they would continue monitoring prices on a monthly basis “in order to control unreasonable growth.”

Judging by the dynamics of sales of passenger insurance policies, the demand for tickets from individual major airlines increased last week up to 2–2.5 times “with a very compressed sales depth of up to two or three days,” says Dmitry Migachev, director of the passenger insurance department at AlfaStrakhovanie. This estimate of demand for cross-border destinations “Kommersant” was confirmed by two carriers. The situation, according to the expert, is similar to the bursts of demand observed at the end of February and lasted about two weeks. The current excitement, according to Mr. Migachev, is also unlikely to last longer – “since September 27, there has been a gradual fading of passenger activity.”

Aigul Abdullina