Russian far east to get $270 million in airfare subsidies

Source : ATW

"Russia's Ministry of Transport is working out a mechanism for distributing over the next two years RUB7.5 billion ($270.1 million) in subsidies to airlines serving the country's far east. "Our goal is to introduce a uniform system of subsidizing economy-class fares on long-haul routes to and from these regions," Transport Minister Igor Levitin explained. At present, the state provides subsidies only to particular categories of passengers, such as those in the military, pensioners or students. "We'll reimburse the difference between actual costs borne by carriers and the basic tariff to be paid by economy-class travelers regardless of their status," said Levitin, who expected subsidies on domestic flights from the far east to European Russia to average RUB5,000 per passenger." Next.