Several Foreign Airlines Quit Russian Market
Thai Airways International is one of the companies that have already stopped flying to Russia altogether, according to The Moscow Times. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Several International airlines are cutting down on their activity in Russia as the country’s economic downturn have significantly reduced the number of passengers on international flights.
Several International airlines are cutting down on their activity in Russia as the country’s economic downturn have significantly reduced the number of passengers on international flights.
This was reported by The Moscow Times yesterday.
Last week Finnair announced that they will suspend their flights between Helsinki Nizhny Novgorod from February, next year.
Several international airlines, such as Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways International and Austrian Niki, have already stopped flying to Russia altogether.
Others companies, such as British budget airline EasyJet, Air France and Germany's Air Berlin, have cut the number of their flights to Russia or started using smaller planes, like the Dubai-based Emirates.
Over the last year the Russian ruble has lost 40 percent of its value against U.S. dollar. For international carriers, setting their ticket prices in foreign currency, this means that the devaluation of the ruble makes their tickets more expensive than those offered by Russian airlines
According to Russia’s Federal Air Transportation Agency the number of passengers flying with international air carriers in Moscow’s airports dropped from 5.7 million to 4.6 million passengers in the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year.