MOSCOW, March 15 (Itar-Tass) — Passenger traffic at Russian airlines went up 18% in January and February 2012, Transport Minister Igor Levitin said Thursday at a meeting of the government's presidium.

"January and February are always difficult months for the airlines, and yet there was an 18% growth," he said adding that the passenger traffic grew 12.6% to 64 million people upon the results of 2011.

For the first time ever over the past 20 years, the figure exceeded the number of air passengers serviced on the territory of the Russian Federation in 1991, or before the formal disintegration of the USSR.

Levitin pointed out the introduction of simpler customs formalities at airports for the citizens of member-nations of the CIS Customs Union. He hopes this will help attract transit passengers in the future.