LONDON – According to data from RadarBox.com, Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport has suffered percentage declines for the last four weeks in movement numbers.
As we have previously reported at AviationSource, the airport continues to suffer a decrease in movement statistics based on a seven-day rolling average that the flight tracking site provides.
Without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…
The Numbers…
For October 29-November 5, the airport recorded a 33.97% dip in movement statistics compared to the same period last year. This, as a figure, is 482 movements.
2021’s numbers were recorded at 730 movements, which is the closest that the airport has got to achieving pre-pandemic levels, although even that figure is still far away at 998 movements.
For this week, the number is expected to dip by 31.91% to 480 movements, which is still far less than 2021’s figures of 705 movements.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data:
| Date | 2021 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2022 vs. 2021) |
| October 1-8 | 746 movements | 561 movements | -24.80% |
| October 8-15 | 761 movements | 548 movements | -27.99% |
| October 15-22 | 753 movements | 529 movements | -29.75% |
| October 22-29 | 741 movements | 517 movements | -30.23% |
What we can see from that data is that the percentage decrease continues to dip week-on-week, which of course, is related to the traffic that is banned from entering Russian airspace.
Plenty of international carriers used to operate at the airport before the Ukraine Crisis began, and this is quite reflective of the current situation in the region.
Consistent Pattern in September As Well…
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.
Overall…
It remains clear that, especially as we enter the Winter season as well, the numbers at the airport are going to continue declining, which is going to put the operator under extreme pressure to turn over revenue.
That being said, President Putin of Russia is quite keen on subsidizing the aviation industry, so they will no doubt survive this volatile period, but at what cost to the coffers of the Russian economy?
Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see how much further numbers continue to drop at the airport.
