Aeroflot CEO says passenger traffic should jump by 50% in 2021

MOSCOW, Nov 26 (PRIME) -- The passenger traffic of Aeroflot Group, which comprises Russian national flagship carrier Aeroflot and its subsidiaries Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda, will jump by around 50% on the year to 46 million people in 2021, Aeroflot CEO Mikhail Poluboyarinov told PRIME on Friday.

“We expect the Aeroflot group to carry about 46 million (passengers) in 2021, it includes Rossiya, Pobeda, and Aeroflot,” he said.

The passenger traffic on the internal market has recovered, but the profit margins of the airlines are yet to return.

“Speaking of Russia’s internal market of Russia, it is a well-known fact that our market has recovered and grew by about 30% as compared with 2019. It is also obvious that profitability is significantly lower than in 2019,” Poluboyarinov said.

“The market has recovered from the point of view of passenger traffic, but it has not recovered from the point of view of profit margins of airlines.”

He said Aeroflot was ready to introduce QR codes of coronavirus vaccination in public transport.

“We are now working on adjustments to our software and provision of all technological processes that should make the procedure as comfortable for our passengers as possible,” he said.

In 2022, the Russian civil aviation market will be in a good state, while the international market will get back to the level of the pre-COVID year of 2019 no earlier than in 2024. Mutual acceptance of all vaccines and traveler’s passports by all countries will provide significant momentum for development of Aeroflot’s international route network, he said.

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