Russians have become more likely to fly with low-cost airlines. In the summer, tickets on low-cost carriers within the country were on average 2,500 rubles cheaper than on traditional carriers, according to the online resource Biletix.
Online search engine experts examined the data Pobeda, Vueling, FlyDubai, Pegasus, Aegean, SmartWings, and EasyJet airlines analyzed their sales over the past summer and identified key trends in the low-cost travel market. From June to August 2018, the share of ticket sales on low-cost carriers increased to 12.81% of total ticket sales. This compares to 11.1% of total ticket sales last summer. Domestic flights saw an increase from 14.91% to 14.91%, while international flights saw a rise to 9.11%.
Experts note that the demand for low-cost airlines is growing alongside Russians' desire to save money. The average roundtrip ticket price for domestic flights with the aforementioned airlines was 7,233 rubles, while tickets with traditional carriers averaged 9,773 rubles. On international routes, low-cost airlines offered even greater savings. Roundtrip international tickets in the summer cost 13,795 rubles instead of 17,578.
In the summer, Russians most frequently flew on low-cost airlines from Moscow to Sochi, Anapa, Mineralnye Vody, Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, and St. Petersburg, as well as from Rostov-on-Don, Samara, and Yekaterinburg to the Russian capital. Among international destinations, the most popular among budget airline customers were Istanbul, Tivat, Dubai, Tbilisi, Larnaca, Berlin, Thessaloniki, Varna, Milan, and Prague.
Source: news.turizm.ru