CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Aeroflot – Russian Airlines Sergei Alexandrovsky: Mr President, I would like to report to you on Aeroflot Group’s performance in 2024.
Aeroflot Group has made significant progress in achieving its financial and operational targets in 2024. We have carried 55 million passengers, up 17 percent compared to 2023. In 2023, we carried 47 million passengers. Our initial goal was to carry 50 million passengers in 2024, but due to better fleet serviceability and flight frequency, we were able to reach 55 million passengers.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: 17 percent is a good growth number.
Sergei Alexandrovsky: Yes, this is our significant achievement due to the efforts of our entire team, the entire Aeroflot Group.
Vladimir Putin: Congratulations.
Sergei Alexandrovsky: Thank you, Mr President.
By developing domestic transport, we have also strengthened our position on the market and completed the year with a market share of 42 percent. That includes the participation of international carriers that fly to the Russian Federation.
As you are aware, the Aeroflot Group includes three airlines.
Vladimir Putin: Rossiya and Pobeda.
Sergei Alexandrovsky: Aeroflot itself, Pobeda and Rossiya, you are absolutely correct. We operated a fleet of 349 airplanes just as we did in 2023. In addition to our fleet, we took three additional aircraft under a wet lease agreement. These are the amendments to the Air Code that were implemented in 2024 with the support of Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev and Transport Minister Roman Starovoit. We worked hard to amend the legislation, and we were the first to implement this deal on the Russian market.
We are now working on the next phase, and amendments are being made that would allow us to take aircraft from the international market under wet leasing agreements as well, which means additional fleet and, accordingly, better transport accessibility in the Russian Federation.
Aeroflot Group is the biggest employer in the aviation industry, with a total of 33,500 employees. In 2024, we, like other employers, faced pressure and personnel shortages, but we managed to address these issues by taking prompt action. The average pay was increased by 30 percent in 2024, which is a considerable hike. Pilots also received a 30-percent pay increase, as have flight attendants since March of this year. This effort covers other categories of personnel as well, and we will certainly continue with it this year.
Flight safety remains also one of our main and perhaps absolute priorities. We finished last year with an excellent indicator of 99.977 percent, which is indeed high. Another important indicator is flying hours [per accident]; in this regard, we achieved 5,730 hours per incident, the best figure in the past five years.
In total, Aeroflot Group operated flights over 280 routes in 2024, introducing 36 new destinations. We are aware of the demand for convenient direct flights that bypass Moscow – and you have instructed us to increase the number of such routes. We have done so, and now 60 percent of our routes bypass Moscow.
Forty-three out of 55 million passengers were carried on domestic flights; this represents an increase of five million, or 13 percent, compared to 2023, and nine million, or 27 percent, compared to 2019, which was a record year for Russian aviation. Overall, domestic carriage indicators for 2024 are the most significant in the past decade.
Internationally, we carried 12 million passengers, which is three million, or 33 percent, more than in 2023. This is also a significant increase, although we should note that the 2023 benchmark was relatively low.
Vladimir Putin: How is the shuttle service operating? Why do you call it a “shuttle”?
Sergei Alexandrovsky: This is a product we introduced in 2024. Among other things, it helped us boost flying hours per Sukhoi Superjet by 50 percent. As you may know, we are Russia’s major operator of Sukhoi Superjet aircraft, with 78 in our fleet.
Vladimir Putin: How many seats do they have?
Sergei Alexandrovsky: The maximum configuration includes 100 seats. There is a 103-seat configuration, but the main arrangement is 100 seats without business class.
In short, what is the shuttle product all about? It accounts for 70 flights per day, or practically one every 15 minutes. It is also very popular. During the summer, our planeloads reached 94–95 percent, with the annual average standing at 90 percent in practical terms. This indicates that the product is in very high demand.
In addition, I would like to note that the financial performance indicators are reflected in stock prices, among other factors. Aeroflot’s capitalisation increased by 70 percent in 2024, and we entered the TOP 3 leaders of the Moscow Exchange index. This is also a significant achievement for us in 2024.
I would also like to say a few words about the development of domestic tourism. We have seen that domestic travel has been in demand over the past few years, and the demand is growing steadily in areas with a large tourist influx. We carried 23 million passengers, which is ten percent higher than last year.
Of course, the most popular destinations are St Petersburg, Sochi, and Kaliningrad. In terms of growth rates, Gorno-Altaisk holds the top position, with an increase of 33 percent, followed by Kaliningrad with a 23 percent rise and Vladivostok with a 20 percent increase. Makhachkala and Murmansk have also seen an over 70 percent increase in passenger traffic over the past five years.
I would also like to elaborate on Gorno-Altaisk. As you know, it is developing as a tourist cluster and can serve as a good and appropriate example of the integrated development of a tourist cluster. Currently, about 475,000 passengers fly through Gorno-Altaisk.
It is clear that there are infrastructure-related limitations: there are not enough hotel rooms, and the airport is restricted in the number of flights it can accommodate. However, there is a clear roadmap on how to increase the hotel room availability. As you know, a major project, which is essentially the construction of a new airport, is planned in Gorno-Altaisk. Thus, we will be able to increase passenger traffic by 2.5 times by 2030, reaching 1.2–1.3 million passengers. We understand that this development is crucial, and we are also planning ways to allocate our resources. Once again, this is a good example.
Vladimir Putin: Of course.
Sergei Alexandrovsky: As for our international flights, we are making every effort to develop the international network. We operated flights to 20 countries: six CIS countries, seven Asian countries, five countries in the Middle East and Africa, as well as Turkiye and Cuba.
I would also like to highlight the Chinese market. In 2024, traffic tripled compared to 2023, reaching 800,000 passengers, which represents significant growth. However, it is important to note the low base effect of 2023. Of course, we are facing intense competition from our Chinese colleagues, which have greater capacities than we do at present, but we are managing to hold our own.
Flat tariffs are another block of issues that I would like to draw attention to.
As you know, we fly to five cities where we have flat tariffs: Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and Magadan.
We also fly to four Far Eastern cities where there are no flat tariffs: Blagoveshchensk, Anadyr, Yakutsk, and Ulan-Ude. As you know, since the governors have likely approached you, as they are approaching me, residents certainly want this as well, so we propose extending the flat tariff programme to all nine cities in the Far East.
In 2024, we transported 1.4 million passengers at flat rates. We suggest increasing the minimum number of seats available under flat tariffs to 1.5 million and extending it to nine cities, while also allowing commercial tariffs for the same flights. These will account for about 20–30 percent at most, which means 50 percent for flat tariffs and 30 percent for subsidised tariffs, or federal subsidies for residents of these regions.
Vladimir Putin: In different categories.
Sergei Alexandrovsky: Commercial rates will be about 20–30 percent. But at the same time, we will provide access for all cities we fly to at flat rates.
Vladimir Putin: Will the company be able to balance the books in that case?
Sergei Alexandrovsky: We are still subsidising and will continue to do so. Aeroflot’s subsidy for flat tariffs is over ten billion rubles.
This year, the size of these subsidies will increase due to the growth of certain costs. Nevertheless, these are our social commitments, and we will continue to meet them.
Vladimir Putin: Excellent. Go ahead and finalise everything with the Ministry of Transport.
Good work, thank you.
Sergei Alexandrovsky: Thank you, Mr President.
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