Aeroflot, Transaero, S7 (Sibir), UTair and GTK Rossiya are the top five players in the Russian airline market according to the recent statistics for the past year. Their share in the total air traffic of the Russian air transportation system is estimated at 52.9%.

There are no surprises: these five carriers topped the list a year ago. At the same time, Orenburg Airlines can displace GTK Rossiya from the fifth place when final calculations are made. The pretender is understood to have generated more passenger kilometers when GTK Rossiya, but lost by the number of passengers carried.

After the sharp drop in 2009, due to the worldwide economic crisis, the Russian air traffic has been recovering. It is expected to grow in this New Year of 2011. “The rise is going to continue, but at lower rates”, says Alexander Neradko, head of the Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya. He added that while the world air traffic is expected to grow with an average annual rate of 5-6%, Russia will double that rate in 2011. At the same time, Neradko noted that some Russian airlines are in a deplorable condition which will lead to a number of mergers, with well-performing carriers taking control over weaker airlines.