Russian airlines may suffer significant losses due to repatriation flights. Industry analysts have calculated that losses may reach 1 billion rubles between March 2 and March 10.
Among the main reasons are flights with an empty cabin in one direction. One of the airlines clarified that the minimum losses for an aircraft with 180 passengers can range from 1.5 to 3 million rubles, and even higher for wide-body aircraft.
Additional pressure is exerted by the change in routes. Due to airspace restrictions, flights have become longer, which increases the cost of flights by approximately one third.
Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of Avia.ru portal and aviation expert, noted that the tourist passenger flow from Russia is still relatively small compared to the spring-summer indicators.
Everyone still hopes that the conflict will end soon. But by April, serious decisions will have to be made regarding a radical restructuring of air traffic.
If restrictions on flights over the Persian Gulf remain in place until April, carriers will revise the logistics of tourist routes. In particular, Istanbul may be used as a connecting hub for flights to Europe and Egypt, and Indian airports for flights to the Maldives.