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While there have been a few articles published on the the problems for Russian airlines, who face a difficult year after the rouble crisis hit travel spending, and increased costs for carriers, less known is the number of foreign airlines cutting services.

An informal survey of the marketing managers from major Russian airports, and the Russian department of transport SCAA, reveals significant numbers of carriers pulling out or cutting services. Czech Airlines, for example, has cut 20% of its Moscow flights, closed Perm and Ufa and won’t open the promised destinations of Kazan and Kaliningrad. Finnair is closing Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara. FlyDubai, SAS, Germanwings, Germania, AirBerlin, Niki, easyJet, El Al, Thai, Sri Lankan, Aigle Azur, Wizz Air, Delta, Blu Express, Emirates and BA have or will all reduce services or capacity to Russia. It’s a surprisingly long list which shows how much the market has changed. While few of these carriers are cargo specialists, it indicates a substantial cut in belly capacity into and out of Russia.

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