Foreign land is more important: Aeroflot stops flights to 26 regions of Russia

Victoria Pavlova

The fact that the country's main airline, and even state-owned, is leaving the regions without its flights, became known back in March 2021. Then the media analyzed the ticket booking system and came to the conclusion that flights to 9 Russian cities had been stopped, and 17 more destinations were on the way. But the national carrier itself, already under the leadership of Mikhail Poluboyarinov, then he denied everything and called such conclusions drawn on the basis of the booking system frivolous. However, after that, one after another, news began to appear that the airline was stopping flights to Russian cities. Aeroflot stopped flying to Omsk, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Tyumen...

Residents of the regions, according to the monopolist, should be reassured by the fact that they are not left without air transport at all. Natzper gave domestic Russian flights at the mercy of his "daughters" - airlines "Pobeda" and "Russia". You don't have to talk about the quality of service at Pobeda anymore - everyone is already well aware of its absence. "Russia", however, is not a low-cost airline.

It's time to remember that the history of the Rossiya airline began with the private independent company Transaero. After its liquidation, Aeroflot received 31 vacant routes without competition! And as compensation for the transportation of passengers - the Transaero aircraft fleet. The planes were already very old. Some were taken out of service due to the high cost of repairs and replaced with newer ones, some were left. As a result, the average age of Aeroflot aircraft, according to analysts, is 5.2 years, and the oldest is 12 years old. Rossiya has an average aircraft age of 12.76 years, and the oldest is 24 years old. Technics from the 90s are still in service. By the end of 2021, Rossiya's aircraft fleet will look younger, but only due to the fact that Aeroflot has leaked the infamous SSJ-100 to its daughter. Weak consolation.

We didn’t live well, and there’s nothing to start. People from the regions will be killed by the remnants of the master's table. And what about Aeroflot itself? It concentrates on more marginal long haul and overseas flights. Recently, for example, flights to Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada and Punta Cana were opened. Naturally, selling tickets to Egyptian resorts to tourists for more than 40 thousand rubles per person (round trip) is much more profitable than transporting Tomsk residents. Only here the transfer of flights in the central part of the country "Russia", and in the east - "Pobeda" does not fit in any way with the global plans for the development of the Far East. People should be lured to the Far East in every possible way, but they are denied a comfortable flight. Everything, as according to the old Soviet principle "we will not finish eating, but we will take it out" in a modern way: all the best is abroad, and the rest will be killed.

Aeroflot could be understood and forgiven if it were a private company. There are no questions here: benefit is above all. But Aeroflot is a state-owned company and costs the budget a pretty penny even when it makes a profit and pays dividends. In 2019, for example (Aeroflot ended 2020 with a loss), the airline received subsidies from the state for 5.73 billion rubles, and the receipt of dividends to the budget amounted to 3.456 billion rubles. The state just gave Aeroflot 2.3 billion rubles! And this is still a trifle against the background of an additional issue of shares in October last year for 80 billion rubles. 75% of the total redeemed volume fell on government agencies. The Ministry of Finance, at the expense of the NWF, bought shares for 40.9 billion rubles, and for another 21 billion rubles bought shares in VTB Capital. RDIF with unnamed Middle Eastern partners also took part in the acquisition of securities.

Aeroflot receives billions of rubles from the state, and in return simply ignores people about whom the state (social, as it is declared) should take care of. If Mikhail Poluboyarinov is not aware of the tasks of the national carrier, then maybe Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin should think about this?