Ukraine’s attack causes Russia’s foreign tourism to collapse
The latest information ForwardKeys reveals that Russian travel abroad, already severely damaged by pandemic travel restrictions, has fallen further due to Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. In the week before the outbreak of the war (w / c 18 February), international air tickets departing from Russia were 42% of pre-pandemic levels; but the proportion of airline tickets issued in the week immediately following the attack (w / c on 25 February) fell to just 19 per cent. Since then, flight bookings have sunk deeper and deeper and have been around 15 per cent.
Due to war-related civil aviation sanctions, Russians are unable to book flights to many of their favorite destinations in the West; so they book trips to the Middle East and Asia instead. An analysis of flight bookings made between February 24, the start of the attack, and the latest data, April 27, reveals that the top five destinations in May-August in terms of sustainability are Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Kyrgyzstan. , Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Reservations for Sri Lanka are currently 85% below pre-pandemic levels, 1% for the Maldives, 11% for Kyrgyzstan, 36% for Turkey and 49% for the United Arab Emirates. However, Sri Lanka’s position at the top of the list is not a real reflection of the island’s attractiveness as a destination. Instead, it is the result of the terrorist bombings that scared visitors away in the pre-pandemic comparison year 2019.
Further analysis of the recent booking of tickets for Turkey and the United Arab Emirates suggests that a very large proportion of wealthy Russians are on holiday. This is due to the fact that the number of seats sold in premium cabins has tripled compared to 2019 and the average journey time for premium passengers is 12 nights in Turkey and 7 nights in the UAE.
Changes in flight schedules as a result of Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine have been as follows:
- February 24: Airspace in southern Russia is closed and Aeroflot is banned from flying to the UK
- February 25: Russia bans British airlines from its airspace
- February 27: EU closes airspace to Russian aircraft
- March 1: The United States denies Russian flights access to airspace
- March 5: Russian airlines (Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, Azur Air and Nordwind Airlines and others) suspend international flights
- March 25: Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s Federal Aviation Administration, extends operating ban at 11 airports in southern and central Russia
- March 25: Vietnam Airlines suspends scheduled flights to Russia
- April 14: AirBaltic discontinues flights to Russia – but returns to Ukraine as soon as possible
- April 22: EgyptAir launches daily direct flights between Cairo and Moscow
Olivier PontiVP Insights, ForwardKeys, said: “The war with Ukraine and the ensuing flight-related sanctions have effectively dried up Russia’s foreign tourism market. which is their favorite destination at normal times.
Source: ForwardKeys