Translated material
Support for regional flights of Russian airlines will pay for passengers
The Ministry of Finance proposed to reset VAT on the "non -burial" flights for the sake of supporting direct regional flights, the Vedomosti newspaper writes with reference to the letter of Russian President Igor Levitin to the Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov. Airlines will cost 17 billion rubles annually, they will transfer some of the costs to consumers.
The subordinates of Anton Siluanov consider the possibility of adjusting VAT until the end of 2022, now for all domestic flights the tax is 10%. At the same time, the tax rate for flights through Moscow will be increased to 18%. Aeroflot can suffer the strongest from the proposal of the Ministry of Finance - the largest airline in the country and the only one whose flights are executed from Moscow.
An increase in VAT to 18% for Moscow flights will automatically lead to an increase in price for the final consumer. The source of the agency, close to the Aeroflot group, believes that at the same time, the zeroing of VAT on flights by bypassing Moscow will not entail a significant increase in regional routes, since their development needs suitable and modern aircraft equipment.
The airline S7 is confident that the VAT rate of 10% for internal transportation through Moscow should not increase. Its growth will entail an increase in the cost of air tickets to Moscow, which is contrary to the interests of passengers and will lead to a decrease in passenger traffic, including at regional airports, the airline warns.
The idea of the Ministry of Finance will lead to additional costs for passengers, reduce the availability of air transportation and the unfair rise in the cost of flights to Moscow, representatives of the Domodedovo Airport say.
A source close to the Ministry of Transport claims that thanks to the interpretation of VAT on non-burden routes, the airlines will win about 12 billion rubles, but will lose about 29 billion rubles a year due to the growth of tax on Moscow lines. He estimates the annual net losses of the industry at 17 billion rubles based on the statistics of air transportation over the past year.
The top manager of a large airport at the same time claims that the essence of the Ministry of Finance is not to provide, but to pick up the benefit from the industry. According to him, the losses of airlines compared with the existing taxation regime will amount to 16 billion rubles a year.
Last year, as the Federal Air Transport Agency reported, 62.7 million people were transported in Russia, of which almost three quarters through Moscow were transported.