The business of the Russian airline Aeroflot has changed completely since the beginning of the war. Almost all international transit is eliminated. The airline is now dependent on help from the Kremlin.
Aeroflot’s options are currently quite limited. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine on February 24, Western sanctions have been causing problems for the Russian state airline.
Aircraft and spare parts are no longer available, so the airline even had to cannibalize a new Airbus A350.
And the possible destinations have also been massively reduced because the airspace in Europe and the USA is blocked for Russian airlines.
The airline’s business has changed completely, Aeroflot boss Sergei Alexandrovsky reports to the Russian news portal “RBC”.
“We mainly fly tourists now, and this is a completely different business, they have completely different incomes, the business has more seasonality.”
Almost all international transit, which accounted for a significant proportion of revenue at 26 percent, is gone.
But other providers would now do better business. For example Turkish Airlines or golf airlines. That is unfair because they suffer from significantly fewer restrictions than Aeroflot. According to Alexandrovsky, this is where the state comes into play.
It is “important that the state balances the interests of Russian and international airlines. Because it is obvious that under these conditions, foreign airlines have much more opportunities and advantages,” said the manager.
That is certainly a certain protectionism. But under the current circumstances, he sees nothing wrong with that. We have already spoken to the authorities about this. After all, it is also in the interest of the Russians.
“The state tries to balance interests, because it’s also about the ability of our citizens to fly to places of recreation.”
The opportunities for Russian airlines are getting smaller and smaller. Just recently, Jordan and Laos also closed their airspace to Russian planes. This complicated travel to destinations in Egypt popular with Russian tourists.
The airlines have therefore applied to the state to be allowed to fly over Syria again. Syria has now given permission to do so.
This article was written by Laura Frommberg
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The original of this article “Aeroflot boss calls for help from the Kremlin” comes from aeroTelegraph.
