Russian air passenger traffic to fall 0.3% to 108.5 mln in 2026 — ministry forecast

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. Air passenger traffic in Russia may decline by 0.3% to 108.5 mln passengers in 2026, according to Russia’s socioeconomic development forecast for 2027 and the 2028-2029 planning period published on the Economic Development Ministry’s website.

"In 2026, air passenger traffic will total 108.5 mln passengers, down 0.3% from 2025, while passenger turnover is estimated at 288.4 bln passenger-kilometers, 1.4% above the 2025 level," the document said.

The forecast specifies that passenger traffic by Russian airlines will increase over the long term. Under the baseline scenario, passenger turnover is projected to reach 315.2 bln passenger-kilometers in 2029, up 10.8% from 2025, while passenger traffic will total 139.4 mln people, up 28.1%. Under the conservative scenario, passenger turnover will reach 288.9 bln passenger-kilometers, up 1.6% from 2025, while passenger traffic will total 116.6 mln people, up 7.1%.

Meanwhile, under the baseline scenario, air freight traffic is projected at 0.46 mln metric tons in 2029, up 2.6% from 2025, while freight turnover is expected to total 1.78 bln metric ton-kilometers, down 0.1%. Under the conservative scenario, air freight traffic is projected at 0.42 mln metric tons in 2029, down 6.1% from 2025, while freight turnover is expected to total 1.64 bln metric ton-kilometers, down 7.9%.

Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin previously said that Russian airlines carried nearly 60 mln passengers in January-July 2026.