International air traffic increased by 54%

This year, international passenger air transportation in Ukraine has grown at a record level. Although the first quarter is considered a "low season", growth during this period was 54%. Carriers have focused on opening new routes after cutting them off during the crisis, but this will ultimately increase losses this year, experts expect.

If the total volume of transportation by Ukrainian airlines in the first quarter increased by only 29.2%, to 1.2 million people, then on international flights the growth of 8 companies was 54%, to 792.8 thousand, the State Aviation Service told Kommersant on Friday. For comparison: the domestic market amounted to only 190.5 thousand passengers (+24.3%), and the total passenger traffic at Ukrainian airports was 2.03 million people (+21.7%).

Such high growth rates are also surprising because the first quarter is traditionally a “low season” in aviation, says Alexey Murovtsev, general manager of Amadeus (airline ticket reservation system operator) in Ukraine. “Since the beginning of the year, carriers have launched many new routes and increased frequencies. Due to this, transit flows have increased,” notes Mr. Murovtsev. He also draws attention to the organic growth of the market, which is recovering from the crisis: “By the end of the year, it could grow by 10-15%, and taking into account the aggressive marketing policies of airlines, the overall increase will be much higher,” notes the general manager of Amadeus.

AeroSvit's indicators are growing the fastest: following the results of three months, 533.6 thousand people (+175%) were transported on international scheduled flights, according to data from the Association of European Air Carriers (AEA). And the company explains that in the first quarter of last year they developed according to a “depressive” schedule - during the crisis, the carrier’s position was greatly weakened. But then in 2010, AeroSvit opened more than 20 new routes, increased frequency, worked more actively with the agent network and improved its tariff policy, said Sergei Kutsy, assistant general director of AeroSvit for public relations. In the first quarter, the greatest growth was demonstrated by the directions Kyiv-Tbilisi (+241%), Kyiv-Dubai (+233%) and Kyiv-St. Petersburg (+227%). This year the carrier began flights to London, Krakow, Karlovy Vary and Novosibirsk. “In addition, AeroSvit is helped by its work in the Ukrainian Aviation Group alliance - through the partnership, the company gains access to many routes and different types of aircraft,” adds Irina Kava, an expert at the Center for Political and Economic Analysis.

According to AEA data, the increase in UIA traffic was much more modest - by 17.5%, to 201.6 thousand passengers. The company explains this by the “low season.” “Due to the second and third quarters, we expect to exceed these indicators. We will launch new routes and increase frequencies and fleet. Thus, at the end of the quarter we opened routes to Astana and Samara, which are unexpectedly well filled now,” the press secretary noted UIA Evgenia Satskaya.

By the end of the year, AeroSvit and UIA expect to reach pre-crisis levels - transporting about 2.5 million and 2 million people, respectively. “For companies, this year, like the last, will be evolutionary. They will spend a lot on development, which will affect their profitability,” warns Irina Kava. UIA ended 2010 with a loss of UAH 200 million (unaudited financial statements); AeroSvit's net loss amounted to UAH 442.39 million. “Our profit expectations this year are cautious, since many plans require large expenses. But in the future this will yield results,” says Evgenia Satskaya. Sergei Kutsy explains that new lines usually become profitable only after 1-2 years of operation.

Elena Sinitsyna

Abroad has moved at an incredible pace