LONDON – In a well-aligned pattern with Aeroflot, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport’s movements based on a seven-day rolling average have dropped 25%, according to RadarBox.com.
This doesn’t come as a surprise, especially if airlines are reducing operations out of the airport due to the continued sanctions caused by the Ukraine Crisis.
So without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…
The Numbers…
For October 1-8, the airport recorded 561 movements, which represents a decrease of 24.80% compared to the same period in 2021.
This is nearly 50% less than pre-pandemic levels, where Moscow was up there with 1,073 movements, so you can see how far the numbers have come down due to COVID-19 and the Ukraine Crisis.
Below is a list of the airport’s movements from the last four weeks as well:
| Date | 2021 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | Percentage Difference |
| September 3-10 | 817 movements | 675 movements | -17.38% |
| September 10-17 | 805 movements | 664 movements | -17.52% |
| September 17-24 | 803 movements | 659 movements | -17.93% |
| September 24-October 1 | 793 movements | 650 movements | -18.03% |
So what we can begin to see also from this table is that, like with the Aeroflot statistics, we are beginning to see a decline in such assets within Russian aviation.
The Aeroflot 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:
| Date | 2021 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | Percentage Difference |
| September 3-10 | 581 movements | 534 movements | -8.09% |
| September 10-17 | 566 movements | 527 movements | -6.89% |
| September 17-24 | 568 movements | 521 movements | -8.27% |
| September 24-October 1 | 551 movements | 497 movements | -9.80% |
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.
Overall…
It remains clear that the pattern has emerged here.
As airlines begin to struggle with movements, so will the airports. That may seem very obvious, but that’s the truth that Russian aviation will have to contend with moving forward.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the sector will perform going into the Winter season and whether it can stay on its own two feet without more subsidies heading its way.
