How Did Wealthy Russians Avoid Travel Bans

According to a recent study, travel restrictions in Russia did not prevent affluent Russians from travelling on vacation last year.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union stopped issuing visas to citizens of Russia. However, the affluent travellers simply went elsewhere.

From the outbreak of hostilities until the end of the year, sales of first- and business-class tickets for international travel out of Russia skyrocketed, rising by 10% above the levels seen before the coronavirus outbreak. Nevertheless, economy class travel over the same time fell 70% from 2019 levels, suggesting that regular Russians remained at home.

According to ForwardKeys, the passenger capacity on flights from Russia to the European Union has decreased by 99 percent in comparison to the time before the pandemic began. In light of recent visa restrictions imposed by most European countries on Russian citizens, airlines have been forced to cap the number of seats available on their flights to Russia. However, there are many other countries that continue to welcome visitors from the region.

The number of passengers flying business class to Thailand has increased by 81% between 2019 and 2020, suggesting that this was one of the most popular destinations for these tourists. Luxury vacations to the United Arab Emirates have increased by 118%. Increases in visitor numbers have also been observed in Turkey (41% growth), the Maldives (137% growth), and Egypt (12% growth). There was a 27% rise in the number of passengers who could fly between Russia and the Middle East compared to the same time period before the outbreak. Additionally, there was a 26% rise in the number of passengers who could fly between Turkey and Russia.

According to Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, the most successful airlines in this up-tick have been those based in Turkey and the Middle East. War-related bans have had the largest effect on air travel to and from Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February, he said, adding that Turkey and the Middle East have benefited notably from this because they have continued direct flights to Moscow.

Antalya, the Turkish Riviera resort, has been flooded with visitors. There was an increase of 144%, 77%, and 74% in flights to and from the city from Moscow's three largest airports (Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Sheremetyevo) since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis.

Yet this increase in travel was seen only among the wealthy, Ponti said.

“The most eye-opening feature is the premium class boom, which appears to illustrate a division in Russian society between the rich, who holidayed in style, while the less affluent stayed at home,” he added.

On the other hand, FlightKeys reports that the rich travel increase looks to have tailed down in 2023. Even the wealthiest have been forced to curtail their international trips. Reservations for first-class seats are 26% below their 2019 levels, while those for economy seats are 66% below their 2018 ones.

At the same time, as a result of the invasion, 37 percent of flights between Europe and the Asia-Pacific area currently exceed eight hours in length.

As the cost of living rises, average fares have also risen. As compared to the prices that existed before the outbreak, flights between Europe and Asia-Pacific were 20% more expensive.

 

Source: euronews.com