Impact of COVID-19 on the Aviation Business in the Russian Federation

The number of air travelers in the Russian Federation in 2020 decreased by 41.3% against the level of 2019. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the share of international air travel with non-CIS countries dropped sharply to 29%, the share of international flights with the countries of the near abroad decreased to 2.2%. Despite the decrease in the number of domestic flights by 17%, the share of the number of domestic passenger flights increased from 43.9% to 68.5%. In Russia, in 2020 the leaders in passenger air transportation are three airlines: 1) Aeroflot (with a market capacity of 21%), 2) Siberia (18%), 3) low-cost airline Pobeda (13.2%). According to our calculations, the economic losses of Russian airlines due to the pandemic amounted to 13.708 billion dollars (or 8.8% of airline losses on a global scale). Our analysis showed that there are two large aviation harbors in Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg. They account for an average of 45-55% of the total number of flights in the country. Nine Russian airports account for 75% of air travel. In the near future, the development of all types of domestic tourism will continue the growth dynamics, which will contribute to the revitalization of the aviation business.