Conference Agenda

Wings of Russia Forum 2008 agenda was a reflection of the most crucial issues and problems which the Russian air transport is facing today. Conference delegates enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the current market situation, review latest trends and forecast prospects and effects.

Every year brings new changes on the market and the year 2008 was exceptionally unstable – such radical changes were hardly to be predicted. Number of passengers carried by Russian airlines had been growing steadily up to the middle of 2008 even despite fuels cost hikes. However 2008 summer season saw the slow-down in passenger volume growth rate. Collapse of AirUnion operations in August was a bomb for the market. The September global financial crisis put at threat stable operations of all Russian carriers.

The situation like this has not been observed since at least 1999 but local airlines should face the challenge properly. According to Evgeny Chibirev, President of the Russian Air Transport Operators Association, “forecasts predicting termination of most carriers with just five major players remaining, are not solid”.

“The latest events posed a question of existence of the Russian air transport in the current shape, – states Alexander Kanishchev, Chairman of Board of Aeroflot-Nord Airlines. – Nevertheless, the background of crisis has been forming for years despite transportation volumes growth.

The industry future is ambiguous but forecasts can and should be made. Global industry trends allow relatively reliable predictions. Moderately optimistic evaluation states that the Russian market would reach 500 mln passengers by the year 2030.

International air transport liberalization will inevitably touch all countries. It is now vital to radically improve Russian air carriers competitiveness which is now limited by customs duties on foreign aircraft delivery as well as other factors.