Aeroflot losses down as Russian airlines struggle on crisis

AFP, MOSCOW:  Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot yesterday said it had reduced its loses in 2015, as the country's airlines continue to grapple with the fallout of Russia's economic crisis.
The majority state-controlled company registered a net loss of 6.5 billion rubles ($88 million, 80 million euros) down from some 17 billion rubles in 2014 and ahead of analyst predictions. "The complex macroeconomic situation had a significant influence on the financial results of the group during the whole year," a company statement said.
"In response to the worsening of external factors, we carried out a range of measures to optimise our fleet and cut costs," it said.
Most of the losses were down to a spike in operating costs due to the weak ruble against the dollar, with leasing costs rising by over 86 per cent.
Russia's aviation industry has struggled in the face of the country's economic crisis with overall passengers numbers dropping by some six per cent last year as the fall in the ruble and recession eat into people's spending power.
The economic trouble saw Russia's second-biggest carrier Transaero stop flying last October due to financial problems.
Aeroflot, however, said that its total passenger volume had increased by 13.4 per cent from 2014 to 39.4 million passengers, although the number of international travellers had dropped by some 6.2 per cent.
The uptick appeared down to the development of Aeroflot's low-cost carrier Pobeda and the disappearance of its main rival Transaero from the market.

 

Aeroflot losses down as Russian airlines struggle on crisis

AFP, MOSCOW: Russias flagship carrier Aeroflot yesterday said it had reduced its loses in 2015, as the countrys airlines continue to grapple with the fallout of Russias economic crisis. The majority state-controlled company registered a net loss of 6.5 billion rubles ($88 million, 80 million euros) down from some 17 billion rubles in 2014 and ahead of analyst predictions. The complex macroeconomic situation had a significant influence on the financial results of the group during the whole year, a company statement said. In response to the worsening of external factors, we carried out a range of measures to optimise our fleet and cut costs, it said. Most of the losses were down to a spike in operating costs due to the weak ruble against the dollar, with leasing costs rising by over 86 per cent. Russias aviation industry has struggled in the face of the countrys economic crisis with overall passengers numbers dropping by some six per cent last year as the fall in the ruble and recession eat into peoples spending power. The economic trouble saw Russias second-biggest carrier Transaero stop flying last October due to financial problems. Aeroflot, however, said that its total passenger volume had increased by 13.4 per cent from 2014 to 39.4 million passengers, although the number of international travellers had dropped by some 6.2 per cent. The uptick appeared down to the development of Aeroflots low-cost carrier Pobeda and the disappearance of its main rival Transaero from the market.