From January to July 2021, Russian airlines increased passenger traffic by 65% ​​compared to the same period in 2020 - up to 57.272 million people.

This was announced on Tuesday, August 31, by the Minister of Transport of the country Vitaly Savelyev.

“Domestic traffic increased by 88% compared to 2020 and amounted to 48 million 531 thousand people.

Compared to 2019, the growth amounted to almost 18%, "the head of the Ministry of Transport quotes TASS.

One of the reasons for the positive dynamics was the abolition of most quarantine restrictions, as a result of which Russians began to travel more actively around the country.

This opinion was expressed in a conversation with RT by the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze.

“The increase in relation to 2020 is quite understandable.

It was during this period that quarantine fell, and there were, in principle, very few flights.

The flow of tourists that was in 2019 is quite correlated with what we have now.

In general, the intensification of internal movements is, of course, the trend of 2021, ”the specialist noted.

The confident growth of air passenger traffic is partly due to the operation of the tourist cashback program, the expert believes.

Recall that under this initiative, by the end of 2021, citizens traveling around the country can return up to 20% of the tour cost, but not more than 20 thousand rubles.

To receive compensation, the voucher must be paid with a MIR card, and the duration of the trip must be at least two nights.

According to the July assessment of the Federal Tourism Agency, since the start of the initiative, more than 2 million people have taken advantage of it.

Program participants purchased vouchers worth about 35.5 billion rubles, of which about 6.7 billion rubles were returned to them.

On August 31, the next stage of the tourist cashback program ends: Russians can buy tours with a discount on travel in the autumn period - from October 1 to December 24.

“Tourist cashback has noticeably influenced the interest of citizens in domestic travel.

According to our data, as a result of the initiative, the demand for travel around the country has grown by more than 20%, ”said Maya Lomidze.

According to her, in the summer, Russians traditionally prefer to relax by the sea and reservoirs.

The priority for travelers is the resorts of the Crimea and Krasnodar Territory.

St. Petersburg, Altai, Kazan and, more recently, Buryatia are popular, Lomidze added.

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Meanwhile, in the first seven months of 2021, Moscow became the most popular destination among passengers on Russian airlines.

The capital accounted for almost 35% of the total number of air ticket bookings.

Such data was provided by RT in the travel planning service OneTwoTrip.

According to the company's estimates, from January to July, St. Petersburg (11.4%) and Sochi (5.7%) were also among the leaders in terms of the number of bookings.

In addition, tourists actively traveled to Krasnodar (3.2%), Simferopol (2.9%), Yekaterinburg (2.7%) and Mineralnye Vody (2.6%).

“Compared to 2019, the greatest increase in demand among these directions is observed in Sochi - the share of bookings has increased by almost a third.

St. Petersburg (the figure grew by 17%) and Kazan (14%) have also become more popular, "Elena Shelekhova, head of the OneTwoTrip press service, said in a conversation with RT.

Moreover, the high demand for air travel in Russia did not affect the cost of air tickets.

So, according to Shelekhova, from January to July 2021, the average price of a one-way flight across the country was 5.4 thousand rubles.

Compared to the same period in 2020, the indicator practically did not change, and in relation to 2019, tickets fell by almost 7%.

“The decrease in the average cost of air tickets is primarily due to the fact that the travel market continues to recover.

Airlines strive to increase passenger traffic and, in the context of heightened competition, offer passengers profitable flights.

Along with the growth in demand and the gradual recovery of the tourism industry, offers from airlines are also growing, ”Shelekhova explained.

Note that in the first seven months of 2021, Russian airlines carried over 8.7 million passengers to foreign destinations.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the indicator slightly decreased (by 0.6%) compared to the same period in 2020.

This state of affairs is largely due to the fact that there are still restrictions in most foreign destinations, said Maya Lomidze.

Meanwhile, according to her, in the summer, the Russians still actively visited Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic and Egypt.