Russian Ministry of Transport guesses an increase in the cost of airline tickets in the range of 15% to 30% in the upcoming summer season, due to the fact that the country’s authorities did not decide to subsidize transport. This was announced by Division Vice President Igor Chalik on Monday, April 17th.
“The fact is that we have not yet approved the allocation of subsidies this year compared to 2022: as you remember, it was 100 billion rubles.
In this context, we expect an increase in transportation cost, probably around 15% to 30%.
Accordingly, it is likely that there will be a decrease in the number of trips,” he said.
Vladimir Poteshkin, deputy head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, noted that the reduction in state subsidies has already led to a reduction in the number of flights.
According to him, 81.9 million passengers are planned to be carried on domestic routes in 2023, and three flight subsidy programs continue to work. interfax.
However, I would like to point out that the cut in budget funds currently being implemented has already resulted in a reduction of 10,612 flights, with 4,947 flights in hard-to-reach areas.”
Last year, Russian airlines received 100 billion rubles. Subsidies for reimbursement of operating expenses for flights within the Russian Federation under sanctions, notes TASS.
In 2023, subsidies are provided at the level of 25.3 billion rubles, but we are talking about flights from November to March. The Air Transport Operators Association has previously applied to the Ministry of Transport with a proposal to provide a subsidy of 100 billion rubles to air carriers for the upcoming summer season. “Kommersant”.
According to experts in the travel industry, an increase in transport prices by a third can lead to a noticeable increase in tour prices and a sharp decrease in tourist demand for holidays in Russia.
“Considering that most domestic tour packages are built on regular flights and the cost of transportation is at least 60-70 percent of the total price, price changes will be very noticeable. At the same time, it is obvious that this increase in price will primarily affect budget products.” Prof.Travel.
“In such a situation, there is only one advice: book and pay now, before the price increase has yet started.
In addition, the prices of accommodation facilities will increase as we approach the peak of the season. It is unlikely that the increase in ticket prices will affect the above-average segment that much,” said one of the portal’s interlocutors. He also added that we can expect a larger flow of auto tourists this summer than previously anticipated.