The share of passengers travelling on board of modern jets in Russia has reached 78%, according to Eugeny Chibirev, president of the Air Transport Operators Association.

Speaking to the Russian media, he said that, according to prognosis from Russia’s Transport Clearing Chamber, the volume of air traffic in the country may soon reach the peak of 1991, the last year of the Soviet Union’s existence. Partly, the recent rise in the volume of air transportation work comes from a notable increase in average flight distances. They rose from 1,700km in 1991 up to 2,600km in 2010.

Fleets of many Russian airlines now list many modern western aircraft. This makes them more competitive on the international market, Chibirev states. Besides, he noted that the process of implementing modern Information Technologies into air transport practices “goes very fast” and also contributes to improving competitiveness of Russian airlines.