Rosaviatsia announced the selection of airlines to provide subsidies

The Federal Air Transport Agency is starting to select airlines that will be provided with subsidies to reimburse operating expenses for flights within the country in November 2022-March 2023. Within the framework of this program, 25.3 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget.

Monthly payment of subsidies is expected for each passenger-kilometer performed by airlines on domestic routes. For each passenger-kilometer paid 1.11 rubles. At the same time, the expected passenger-kilometer should be at least 90% of the figure for the same period last year.

The subsidy can be paid both monthly and for several months at once. As a result of the provision of funds, airlines must provide a passenger turnover of at least 22.2 billion passenger-kilometers. Applications of carriers will be accepted from 12 to 23 January. The winner will be chosen by January 28th. The agreement with the Federal Air Transport Agency must be signed before February 11.

“The conditions for granting the subsidy encourage the airline to increase the aircraft’s flight time and operate flights with sufficient payload. The more passenger-kilometers an airline performs, the more operating expenses it will receive as a subsidy. Both the number of passengers transported and the flight range (or frequency of flights) are important here,” the Federal Air Transport Agency said.

The Air Carrier Compensation Program for Domestic Flights was approved by the government on April 29, 2022. The decision was made in order to support air carriers in the face of sanctions against Russia, which have affected the Russian aviation industry. Then 100 billion rubles were allocated from the reserve fund. Subsidies were received by 32 airlines, including Aeroflot, Pobeda, Rossiya, UTair, and Ural Airlines. On December 7, the government extended this program.

In response to the military operation in Ukraine, the European Union imposed sanctions on the Russian aviation industry. Carriers lost the opportunity to use European aircraft, export technical products, and already leased aircraft had to be returned to the lessor.

Lusine Balasyan