Russian bizav market emerges from recession

The Russian business aviation market is witnessing a revival. The new players have emerged in the Moscow ground services segment over the past couple of years, and the number of business jet flights is growing for the third year in a row after a period of crisis-induced stagnation. These two factors suggest that the market has emerged from the recession and is prepared for further development.

Historically, the state of Russia’s bizav market is gauged not by the successes and failures of aircraft manufacturers as is the case in the U.S. but by the number of flights performed. All economic stars aligned last year for a steady growth in the frequency of bizav flights. As usual, the healthy oil-and-gas and processing sectors and an increase in the number of high-net-worth individuals were the key drivers of the Russian business aviation segment. Even though both these parameters (the price of oil and the number of billionaires) dropped slightly compared to the 2012 levels, they stayed high enough to stimulate the market. The average price of Urals crude, which is Russia’s primary export, stood at $107.88 per barrel, comfortably above the $100 psychological barrier. According to the CNN Money ranking, there were 108 dollar billionaires in Russia last year.