From January 1, 2025, hundreds of flights may be closed by Russian airlines due to lack of subsidies from the state.
How reports The Moscow Times, Kommersant learned about this from industry sources. They claim that the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency cannot agree with the Ministry of Finance on the conditions for providing 19 billion rubles. air carriers to operate flights bypassing Moscow, as well as flights between the central part of Russia, the Far East and Kaliningrad. The approval of subsidies for socially significant routes in the Far East is also delayed.
In accordance with current regulations, applications for subsidies must be submitted no later than October 1, and consideration lasts at least a month. Typically, the Federal Air Transport Agency distributed funds before December 1. By this date, as a rule, carriers compiled flight schedules from January 1 and opened the sale of tickets for subsidized flights.
However, due to the current situation in a number of regions, the publication notes, tickets for certain destinations have still not gone on sale since the new year. Regional authorities are expressing concern about this as they receive complaints from passengers. The Ministry of Defense also got involved in the issue, which controls the availability of tickets for military personnel to places of rest and treatment.
In the absence of subsidies, airlines will either refuse flights or be forced to sell tickets at commercial prices. However, the most likely option is considered to be the closure of routes with low profitability.
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