LONDON – According to data from RadarBox.com, Russian carrier S7 Airlines is experiencing a rebound in traffic, as the number of flights increases.
Like many other Russian carriers, S7 Airlines hasn’t been able to tap into as many international markets due to sanctions caused by the Ukraine Crisis.
Whilst S7’s numbers are still in the negative percentages, the airline has been able to reduce this, and does appear to be on a trajectory for a percentage increase instead.
The Numbers…
Statistics for last week show that the Russian carrier operated 377 flights, which is a 12.93% decrease compared to the same period last year.
The 377 figure is still higher than its 2020 COVID-era number, which is a consolation that the Russian carrier can take in this regard.
On top of this, the 12.93% decrease is an improvement from March 19-26, when the figure was at 28.16%, where only 227 flights were recorded by the airline.
April and May did see percentage decreases of over 20% compared to the same period last year, hinting at the fact that S7 might be experiencing some Summer demand in the months ahead.
It is unclear what the next few weeks will hold for the airline, but if the decreased numbers are reducing, then there is a strong chance that this will convert into positive percentages instead.
Events Affecting S7 During the Ukraine Crisis…
The Ukraine Crisis saw three major announcements regarding S7 Airlines, which has of course hindered any form of revenue generation internationally.
The first news came at the start of March when Alaska Airlines announced the suspension of its partnerships with the Russian carrier as well as Aeroflot.
By March 4, the airline then announced the suspension of all international flights due to sanctions not allowing the aircraft into respective airspaces and FIRs, as well as the risk that the aircraft would be repossessed.
Such repossession attempts had been made already, especially with the chaos that emerged in Colombo, Sri Lanka when an Aeroflot Airbus A330 was grounded due to court orders.
The ban was later lifted, but most definitely put into perspective the hesitancy of Russian carriers surrounding operating into international destinations.
Finally, the airline was then suspended by the oneworld Alliance in April, which would have reduced the revenue capture of the airline, in alignment with posted sanctions by the West.
Overall…
It remains clear that S7 Airlines does seem to be upward for some form of recovery, although this will not be a complete one, due to the international sanctions not allowing flights into the respective destinations.
Looking ahead, it remains clear that the vast majority of success will have to stem from the airline’s domestic flights, and that is something they will have to bank on as long as the Ukraine conflict continues to unfold.
Even so, the airline has the route infrastructure to make this happen, and it will be interesting to see what happens looking ahead and whether S7 can make any successes internationally in destinations where they know they are safe to operate.
