Opening the meeting, Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov said that the implementation of the project marks a change in the model of state support for regional aviation. “We can say with certainty that the project has been implemented. Here are the figures: to date, over 17,000 passengers have been transported as part of this project; this amounts to 10% of the annual number of passengers forecast at the development stage of the programme,” he said.
Maxim Sokolov also said that the project had stimulated domestic demand for aircraft to meet the needs of domestic aviation. Of the 21 planned aeroplanes, the airlines have so far included seven in the project. He recalled that to implement the whole pilot project, including reserve aeroplanes, the plans called for the inclusion of 24 aeroplanes. Taking into account the new planes included, there are currently 16 aeroplanes participating in the project. Of these, 13 are making flights and three are acting as reserve planes.
Over the two months, 20 new routes have been launched; of these, 18 were launched in the first month of the implementation of the project. “This development of the route network reflects the increasing mobility of the population,” Maxim Sokolov said. He also said that to date, 20,000 air tickets have been sold – up to October 2013.
The meeting participants discussed issues concerned with various aspects of the implementation of the programme, as well as a range of measures to enable the target indicators included in the programme to be more effectively achieved.
Source: Ministry of Transport.
