MOSCOW—Russia’s only LCC Pobeda announced Apr. 1 that it will suspend all regular flights until May 31.
The airline cited the government directive that Russian citizens should limit traveling because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We fully agree with the government decision. That’s why we are suspending flying and appeal to everybody to stay home if possible,” Pobeda CEO Andrey Kalmykov said.
The Aeroflot Group subsidiary will not refund tickets for the lockdown period, instead offering passengers the chance to reschedule their flights for any time within the next year.
The Russian government imposed a complete ban on international air travel—with the exception of repatriation flights—on Mar. 26. Pobeda becomes the first sizeable Russian airline to suspend all regular flying. Russian leisure charter carrier Azur Air suspended its operations on Mar. 20, but its network does not compare to Pobeda’s.
The LCC offers services to a vast range of domestic destinations; international revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) account for only 28% of Pobeda’s total traffic.
The two-month lockdown will seriously disrupt Pobeda’s expansion plans. The airline was expected to be a key growth driver within the Aeroflot Group.
In 2019 the LCC increased passenger traffic by 43%, rising to 10.3 million passengers, and almost tripled its net income. Over January and February it boosted traffic by 32% to become the third-largest Russian carrier and the second largest within the Aeroflot Group.
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