In the first nine months of 2017, domestic and international carriers operated over 1 million flights in the country's airspace. This is considered a three-year record, according to Rosaviatsia.
The number of air travels increased by 8.2% in the first three quarters of 2017 compared to the same period last year and by 3% compared to 2014. We should add that the number of international flights increased by 13.7% compared to last year and amounted to more than 594,000.
According to Rosaviatsiya forecasts, Russian airlines aim to reach a record number of passengers carried in 2017. Current growth rates, experts believe, allow for a forecast of 100 million passengers in 2017.
Interestingly, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, Aeroflot carried approximately 120 million passengers annually, while in 1991, the combined passenger traffic of all Russian airlines reached 91 million. After that, passenger traffic steadily declined, reaching its nadir in 1999. By comparison, in the United States, American airlines carried 929 million passengers in 2016.
Source: news.turizm.ru
