Rosaviatsia will not unilaterally open any international direction, says an expert in the field of civil aviation Roman Gusarov.
Flights are only possible to six countries of the world
On Thursday, 17 September, Rosaviatsia will hold a meeting of the interdepartmental commission. The reason for this event was the operators' requests for admissions to foreign flights., including those states, which are currently closed.
Russia allowed flights to six countries of the world: Turkey, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Egypt, UAE and Maldives. The rest of the world is closed to flights from Russia, and therefore, Rosaviatsia cannot issue transport permits there.
“A number of airlines really began to request admissions to those countries, where you can't fly, but this idea doesn't make sense. Can't get that, what is prohibited. Now, if new countries are discovered, then we can talk about it ", – concludes Gusarov.
Likely, companies indicate the desired directions to the regulator, on which they would like to open their flights.
“This is due to the economic situation of the companies. Besides, operators feel the market and understand, where would it be advisable to fly. Only the opening of these directions does not depend on the airlines themselves, and from the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, since the decision on these issues is now taken at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation ", – states Gusarov.
This decision of the Government of the Russian Federation takes into account the opinions of the Ministry of Transport and Rospotrebnadzor, t. it is. those state bodies, who are responsible for the sanitary and epidemiological situation in Russia, but the state of affairs in other states is also assessed.
“Today there is a premonition, that we are on the verge of a second wave of coronavirus. Here we must take into account the position of other states - many of them consider, that the arrival of Russians is unsafe ", – summarizes Gusarov.
Russia continues to be on the EU blacklist along with the United States. Unclear, when will the communication between Russia and the states of the Old Continent be resumed. No exact dates, but this will not happen until mid-October.
“State bodies are analyzing the situation in Russia and in other countries, draw conclusions - it is safe or unsafe to open flights in these directions, since there is a threat of a second wave of the pandemic ", – concludes Gusarov.
In Russia, cases with coronavirus are not improving - we again have an increase in cases.
“This is a complicated process. Taken into account as the opinion of Rospotrebnadzor, and the position of the governments of those states, with which we want to open air communication. Therefore, airlines today simply announced their own wishes and preferences.. This does not mean, that Russia will open access to flights to designated directions ", – states Gusarov.
Aeroflot suffered the most
“With regard to income, then Aeroflot's share of international lines in profits is about half. This company has lost the most, as Aeroflot is the designated carrier to many countries ", – concludes Gusarov.
Other companies were less affected by the, that foreign destinations accounted for a smaller share in their business.
“Thanks to this, S7's income is higher today, than Aeroflot. This company relied on domestic transportation. Exactly the same situation with other airlines - Utair, Ural Airlines, etc.. d. », – summarizes Gusarov.
Those airlines also suffered damage, which were originally created for tourist destinations, t. it is. for charters.
“We have a certain number of medium-sized companies, who earned money transporting tourists to warm countries on the instructions of tour operators. They are indeed in dire straits due to the loss of almost all of their business. It's not easy for them, but, as the saying goes, everyone gets out as best they can ", – states Gusarov.
It is impossible to determine the share of losses of Russian airlines from the closure of the international air travel market - each structure has its own situation. Someone has losses the size of their entire business, some have a much smaller share.
VAT exemption will work only together with the capital
The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation asked the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov to support the establishment of a zero VAT rate for all domestic transportation for the period from 2021 until the end 2024 of the year.
“We have zero VAT for flights, which are carried out in Russia, bypassing Moscow. This is actually weak support for the aviation industry., because the 80% passengers in Russia are tied to the capital ", – concludes Gusarov.
Therefore, such an offer can be of assistance to the aviation industry., however, only if, if Moscow again acts as the main transit hub, but this will only happen when the international market recovers.
“With the closure of the foreign market, Moscow does not fulfill transit functions, therefore, passenger traffic in the capital fell nowhere lower. In April-May, the passenger traffic in Moscow amounted to 5% from last year ", – summarizes Gusarov.
The situation was better at regional airports, but without the restoration of Moscow, even this benefit will not work.
"Moscow airports are transit hubs, whose difficulties were aggravated by the closure of foreign countries, and quarantine, which operated in Moscow for several months ", – states Gusarov.
Dmitry Sikorski
