Nizhny Novgorod Airport Strigino passenger traffic (a part of the holding Airports of Regions) in 2013 compared to the results of 2012 increased by 22,8% and amounted to 917 424 passengers. There were 465 304 passengers served on domestic flights, which is 24,3% more than the same last year’s rate, and 452 120 passenger on international flights (+21,3% compared to 2012). The number of departures increased by 24,5% and came up to 8 517 operations. The volume of cargo and mail traffic remained at the same level – 1 098 tones for the period of 12 month of 2013.
– Due to rapid growth of the passenger traffic that exceeds industry-average indicators during two consecutive years we were able to serve more than 900,000 passengers for the first time in 20 years, – said Executive Director of Strigino Airport Alexander Sinelnikov. – According to the numbers of passengers carried, destinations provided and services introduced the airport is step-by-step coming to a level that is comparable by standards to the level of the million-city…
Like previous year the rate of growth on domestic flights exceeds the increase on international flights, and this Nizhny Novgorod’s trend is specific for the Russian aviation market. This is due to two factors: the launching of new destinations and increased frequency of existing flights.
For example, there are 9 flights a day from Nizhny Novgorod’s airport to Moscow since 2013- this is the maximum number of flights to the capital in the history of Strigino. Launching of two new frequencies on the Moscow route allowed to serve 22,8% more, or – in absolute terms - 63 298 passengers more than in 2012. At the same time the rate of Moscow direction in the total passenger traffic has not increased because on a par with the growth of passenger traffic on flights to Moscow the number of passengers on other domestic flights is also increasing. The largest percentage is marked on flights to Yekaterinburg (2,1-fold increase), Surgut (+53,2%), Ufa (+69%), Kazan (+83,2%), Astrakhan (2,9-fold increase), Saratov ( 8,4-fold increase), Ulyanovsk (+74,7%), Samara (+40,2%), Belgorod (+51,9%), Rostov (+43%).
The implementation of the program for regional traffic development since April 2013 – which “brought” to the airport 31 751 passengers – has also affected the growth in the sector of domestic flights. As a part of this program 10 routes were launched (Izhevsk, Kazan, Ufa, Kirov, Nizhnekamsk, Penza, Perm, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Saratov), increased frequency of Samara departures.
In 2013 the passenger of the International Airport Strigino were transported by aircrafts of 28 airlines: 22 Russian and 6 foreign; to the Nizhny Novgorod’s aviation market came at once 5 new carriers: «Orenburg Airlines», Air Europa, Kogalymavia, Ikar, «Yamal». More than 50% of all air transports belong to three airlines – «Aeroflot» (25,1%), «Ural Airlines» (14,4%) and «UTair» (13,6%). The Air Companies such as “Nord wind” and “Transaero” - carrying out charter programs - have significantly increased the part in total passenger traffic; European air company Czech Airlines has doubled its part compared with 2012.
Regularly flights from Strigino were performed in 55 directions: 26 of them countrywide and 29 – abroad. Nine new routs have appeared in the schedule of the Nizhny Novgorod Airport in 2013: Orenburg, Penza, Kirov, Syktyvkar, Anapa; Podgorica, Larnaca, Burgas, Nanchang. The most popular by number of transported passengers became regular flights to Moscow, Frankfurt-am-Main, Saint-Petersburg, Samara, Prague and charter flights to Antalya, Hurghada, Sharm el Sheikh, Barcelona and Heraklion.
However the leaders in the growth among international flights are Prague (+81,6%), Rhodos (2,5-fold increase), Phukhet (2,4-fold increase) and Varna (+58%).
In addition to increasing passenger traffic and launching new destinations the year 2013 at the International Airport Strigino was marked by active preparations for the construction of a new passenger terminal. So in August 2013 MANN OAO and the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region signed an Agreement on the lease of a land plot for construction, a positive hygiene certificate for sanitary-hygienic zone from the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor in Nizhny Novgorod Region was obtained in September, and in October a tender for the general contractor was announced. In November a symbolic sign “Kilometre Zero“ was laid at the future construction site, and the outdoor parking for 480 cars became the first completed phase of complex reconstruction.