LONDON – According to data from RadarBox.com, Aeroflot’s flight movements based on a seven-day rolling average have dropped by over 20%.

As the carrier continues to struggle to operate in other destinations around the world, Aeroflot has had to double down on its domestic destinations as well as the select few it operates internationally.

Without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…

The Numbers…

For October 1-8, 2022, the carrier recorded 397 movements, which is a sharp decrease of 22.91% compared to the same period last year, where 515 flights were operated.

Obviously, this figure is nowhere near the pre-pandemic level of 804 movements in the same period in 2019. This comes as no surprise, given the ongoing Ukraine Crisis.

Below is a list of the last four weeks’ worth of data, which shows mainly single-digit decreases as opposed to the major double-digit decrease we have seen last week:

What you can also see from the table is that for a certain period, the carrier was close to achieving 2021’s numbers, which showed a layer of consistency across the board during the later periods of the Summer 2022 season.

However, as the Winter approaches, we can probably expect movement numbers to get worse.

Doubling Down…

Despite the decreasing numbers, the Russian carrier is doubling down on expansion, with the airline placing a $16bn for 339 aircraft earlier last month.

It will come as no surprise to read that the order has been placed with United Aircraft Corporation; UAC is a 92% owned subsidiary of a Russian state-owned aviation company, Rostec. 

The aircraft order is made up of 210 MC-21s, a single aisle variant made by Irkut, 40 Tupolev Tu-214’s and 89 Sukhoi Superjet-NEWs.

The record-breaking deal that’s valued at a trillion roubles in the local currency well exceeds Aeroflot’s current fleet size of only 183 aircraft.

The production of these planes will initially be expensive as the companies continue to source all components from within Russia, which they formerly sourced from the west as a result of sanctions imposed by the rest of the world in early 2022.

The government will help cover the initial costs of the aircraft from the federal budget, but as production increases, these subsidies will be reduced. 

Deliveries of the aircraft will commence in 2023, with the two Superjets and then 7 Tupolevs and 6 MC-21-310s coming in 2024. The narrow-body MC-21 is set to become Aeroflot’s flagship as they move to detach themselves away from western manufacturers.

General director Sergei Aleksandrovsky has defiantly said, “By signing this agreement, we signal to the whole world that Russia is a great aviation power with huge potential and rich experience in aircraft production, able to manufacture reliable and modern airplanes”.

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