Story ID: 
Russian Bizav Traffic on the Upswing
By: Eugene Gerden
Caption: Despite the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, business aviation in Russia is showing good dynamics in the second half of the year.
Word Count: 228
Despite the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, business aviation in Russia is showing good dynamics in the second half of the year. According to the Russian United Business Aviation Association (RUBAA), after a slight increase in early 2020 and a sharp drop in April, business aviation traffic on some routes—such as Russia-EU—significantly exceeds last year's figures currently.

For example, according to recent statistics published by VIPPORT, an FBO at Moscow Vnukovo-3 Airport, in August it served 3,707 business aviation flights, which is 33 percent higher versus the same period last year.

“Despite the crisis, which causes significant damage to the Russian business aviation sector, it is coping with its impact relatively well at present,” RUBAA executive director Anna Serezhkina told AIN. She pointed to the recent increase in FBOs there, with four new facilities opening—two at Vnukovo, one at Yuzhny, and one at Tsentralny—over the past year. “We expect the next logical step will be the growth of the aircraft fleets.”

But not all agree with that assessment. Oleg Ivanov, corporate affairs director of A-Group, an FBO at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, noted that this year turned out to be quite difficult. All significant projects were postponed until better times, he said, while the company tried to simply keep current activities and provide security to its passengers and workers.