As a result of Western sanctions against Russia, airfares in Russia have become 48.4% more expensive in almost two years, according to Russian media, UNN reports.
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As noted, Western sanctions that hit Russian civil aviation and cut off carriers from aircraft repairs and spare parts have provoked the strongest jump in airfares.
By the end of 2023, the cost of an economy class ticket per thousand kilometers increased by 24.5%. Over the two years of the war, airfares have become 48.4% more expensive, and last year the price increase accelerated: in 2022, it was 19.2%.
As noted, the rise in airfares has been unprecedented since 2008, when amid the global financial crisis and the collapse of the ruble, carriers raised prices by 33.5% on average.
Initially, budgetary injections helped to keep passenger prices down: the year before last, the government allocated 170 billion rubles to carriers to subsidize ticket prices. But last summer, the effect of the budget money wore off.
Companies' costs are rising as it becomes increasingly difficult for them to find spare parts to repair airliners that are failing one by one. In January-November last year, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the country recorded 670 air accidents, 400 of which were due to the failure of equipment, including engines. Since the beginning of 2024, at least seven planes of Russian airlines, including Aeroflot and Pobeda, have broken down during a flight and made forced landings.
The increased costs of airlines are due, in particular, to the need to substitute imported spare parts, the Central Bank of Russia writes in its review of the state of the regional economy. "For example, the cost of fuel for one major airline increased by an average of a quarter in the first nine months of 2023, and fleet maintenance by one and a half times. In total, this resulted in an increase in the cost of the flight by more than 30%," the regulator writes.
Last year, Russian airlines carried 105.4 million passengers, while international traffic was down 59% compared to 2019, and the total was down 19%.
According to analysts, all this leaves no chance of lowering prices for passengers and airfares will continue to rise.