While some countries, such as Turkey, Armenia or the United Arab Emirates, remain open, the closure of European and American skies is felt in Russia. According to the newspaper Vedomosti, Moscow-Sheremetievo, the country’s most important airport, has just sent 40% of its staff on vacation. At Domodyedovo, another airport in the capital, employees have been moved to part-time.
With our correspondent in Moscow, Anissa El Jabri
Sending airport staff on vacation is not a first: the decision had already been taken in 2020, when almost the whole planet was confined. This is where the first drop in air traffic and Russian travel dates from. Since then, they have never really been able to travel again towards Europe or the United States.
” Russian vaccines have never been recognized. So very few Russians can travel to Europe or the United States. Only those who have visas or possess residences in these countries explains Roman Vladimirovitch Goussarov, expert in the sector and editor-in-chief of an information portal specializing in aeronautics.
” In reality, the lack of direct flights to Europe is not a problem. Especially since even now, it is possible to get there via connections. Via Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, you can fly to any country in the EU. »
What remains important for Russians who can travel is that traditional holiday destinations, such as Turkey, Egypt, Thailand or Dubai, remain open. The most crucial question will rather be in the coming months: will they still be able to afford it, with a ruble that is breaking records on the decline?
For Roman Vladimirovitch Goussarov, the economic future of Russia is likely to weigh on aviation. ” The demand for plane tickets will not only be influenced by the ability to fly somewhere, by the destinations offered, but by the purchasing power of the population. The devaluation of the rouble, inflation, the increase in the price of fuel and other products such as for meals on board… All this will affect the cost of a flight and therefore that of plane tickets ,” he explains.
The fall of the ruble will also affect the cost of all travel, for example by making the cost of a hotel stay abroad more expensive for Russians. There is therefore no guarantee that the number of Russians who were ready to travel abroad last year will be the same in the coming months. On the contrary, most of them will probably prefer to save money and forgo more expensive holidays abroad.
Roman Vladimirovich Goussarov