Russian airlines plan to receive more than 90 aircraft this year, Izvestia calculated based on data from carriers and sources. Such a carrying capacity may become even more excessive amid the crisis and closed borders with many countries. Overcapacity may lead to a decrease in ticket prices for Russian resorts, said Andrey Kramarenko, a leading expert at the Center for Transport Economics at the Higher School of Economics.
According to the expert, carriers expect that overseas will open soon, and people will have more money tomorrow than yesterday. But nothing of the kind happens – planes are exhibited where there is at least some demand. This year it is the south of the country.
“Even if airlines put all their capacities on domestic tourist destinations, and local airports serve all these flights, passengers may simply not have enough accommodation in resorts. Air carriers will not find their passenger. Not because he is not ready to fly, but because closer to summer it will become clear that he has nowhere to live. Then the prices for air tickets will fall, ”Andrey Kramarenko predicted.
Oleg Panteleev, the executive director of the Aviaport agency, believes that the time to increase the fleet is not the best now, since the volume of traffic has not reached the pre-crisis level and is unlikely to reach this year. According to him, the main risk of growth in carrying capacity for airlines is that the increase in supply will not allow adjusting tariffs and raising the cost of air tickets.
Traditionally, airlines get a loss in winter, and a profit in summer, the expert recalled. But this year, if Turkey does not open, many carriers will again be unprofitable, since Russian resorts will not be able to accommodate everyone, Kramarenko said.
Read more in the exclusive material from Izvestia:
Came on board: Russian airlines will receive 90 aircraft amid the crisis