Last year, Russian airlines carried a total of 25 million passengers (an increase of 12.6% compared to 2000). At the same time, 28 of the 30 leading carriers improved their figures on domestic routes and 29 on international routes. As before, these thirty account for about 90% of all transportation in the country. And almost half of all air transportation in the country was accounted for by the first five companies, each of which carried a million or more people. The absolute leader, as before, is Aeroflot . Its services were used by 5.832 million passengers, compared to 5.1 million in 2000.

Russian aviators feel more comfortable than their Western colleagues. Against the backdrop of the global air travel crisis, domestic airlines are talking about a significant increase in transportation volumes.

Aeroflot Deputy CEO Lev Koshlyakov explained to Vedomosti that the company was achieving growth in traffic by canceling flights with low loads and simultaneously increasing the frequency of flights on the most popular routes. Thus, according to Aeroflot, last year flights to Chicago and Montreal were cancelled, while the frequency of flights to Athens, Oslo and Rome, London and Frankfurt, on the contrary, was increased. According to Koshlyakov, in 2002 Aeroflot will not strive to increase the number of passengers, but will concentrate on financial indicators.

Aeroflot remains the only Moscow airline in the top five. Siberia, which is currently in the process of merging with Vnukovo Airlines and operates Vnukovo's planes and routes, has moved into second place in terms of the number of passengers carried. Together, these airlines carried 1.928 million people (of which Vnukovo Airlines carried 513,292). This is the most significant growth among all Russian airlines (in 2000, Siberia, without Vnukovo, carried only 832,000). At the same time, the ratio of domestic and international flights is 60 to 40. Only Aeroflot has a larger share of international routes.

Mikhail Koshman, deputy general director of Siberia, explains his company's success by expanding its charter program and growing demand for air travel. "It was a very difficult year," says Koshman. "We've grown a lot, and the main goal for 2002 is not maximizing volumes, but improving the quality of work and increasing regularity. This year, we plan to increase transportation volumes by an average of 20-30%."

Siberia has pushed Pulkovo down to third place with its 1.760 million passengers. "The number of passengers carried is not the main thing, financial indicators are more important, and in this regard, everything is fine with us," the head of the airline's flight service, Anatoly Ivanov, assures Vedomosti. However, Pulkovo's financial results have not yet been made public.

Two Siberian airlines competed for 4th and 5th places - Tyumenaviatrans (TAT) and KrasAir. The final figures will be announced in two or three weeks, but according to preliminary data, TAT has outpaced KrasAir by 100,000 passengers - 1.2 million and 1.1 million, respectively. "For two years in a row, we have demonstrated growth in the number of passengers carried by about 60%," says TAT Deputy General Representative Inessa Guseva. "This is happening thanks to the intensive use of local air lines and their successful coordination with longer routes. Plus the intensive use of the fleet." TAT's plans for 2002 include the introduction of new regular international flights (previously it was the only one).

The Krasnoyarsk airline cites the introduction of a fan schedule at Krasnoyarsk airport last year as the main reason for the 42% growth. This means that airlines do not fly directly from the east to the western part of the country, but transport passengers to Krasnoyarsk, where convenient connections between flights are provided. KrasAir plans to lease a third Tu-204 aircraft.

All carriers believe that now that they have achieved significant operational indicators, they should pay close attention to their own finances. According to the State Civil Aviation Service, the industry's revenues in 2001 amounted to 101 billion rubles, and profits amounted to 8.34 billion rubles.

The crisis is not an obstacle for us