MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. The passenger flow of the new Russian low-cost air carrier Citrus is expected at around 1 mln passengers in the first year of its operation, and from 2024 the goal is to reach 6-7 mln people, S7 Group said in a statement on Thursday.

A preliminary agreement on the supply of its first four jets has already been signed. The carrier plans to increase the fleet by 6-8 jets each year during the first three years. The fleet of the low cost airline will exceed 20 jets in 2024, according to projections.

"Consequently, it is expected that the passenger flow of the new airline will total around 1 mln carried passengers during the first year of its operation, and in 2024 it is planned to get to the level of 6-7 mln passengers," the statement reads.

The name of the new lowcoster means 'Cities of Russia’, S7 Group explained. Citrus will be focused on serving direct inter-regional destinations mainly in the central part of Russia, bypassing Moscow and the Moscow Region.

The low-cost carrier will start flying in July 2022 and could open ticket sales on April 1, 2022.