Russia's charter flights market is expected to shrink by 40 percent year-on-year by the end of 2015, the state-run TASS news agency reported Thursday, citing Russian Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov.
The decline comes amid Russia's ban on charter flights to Turkey from Dec. 1 as part of economic sanctions against the country and a suspension of flights to Egypt last month following rising speculation that terrorists had targeted the Russian A321 airliner that crashed in Sinai on Oct. 31.
The airline industry in Russia has also been hit by the country's economic downturn that has driven down real incomes.
“People still have money for short-distance flights, but not for long-distance ones,” the RBC newspaper quoted Okulov as saying.
The total passenger turnover of Russian airlines is expected to drop by 7 percent in 2015 compared to last year, Okulov said, the newspaper reported.
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