FSVT reports 6% decline in cargo volumes and passengers in the first 9 months of 1999, largely driven by international declines

Published: 10/26/1999

The FSVT has reported an overall decrease of 6% in passenger and cargo traffic for the first 9 months of 1999 compared to the same period in 1998, which included the financial crisis and the changes in custom regulations, which has a marked effect on shuttle trade cargo volumes. During the period passengers carried fell by 6% on 1998 to 22.2m and cargo also fell by 6% to 458,000 tonnes. The major declines were in international travel were passenger numbers fell by 15% in contrast to domestic volumes which rose by 5%.In the cargo market the domestic market rose by a robust 9%, but was offset by the 15% decline in international activity. The FSVT in part attributes the overall decline to the increase in jet fuel prices and the connected increases in tariffs, which have led to fuel as a proportion of airlines' total costs, rising from 22% at the beginning of 1999, to its current 36%. During this period, the most international of Russia's airlines, Aeroflot has managed to increase its passenger volume by 0.1%, suggesting that it is successfully taking market share from its domestic competitors and that the charter market and secondary carriers may be bearing the brunt of the international travel declines.

Article ID: 1009