MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. The passenger traffic of Russian airlines may reach pre-sanctions levels at the end of 2023, Head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko said on Monday.

"We expect that by the end of the current year, these figures [for passenger traffic of Russian airlines] may return to the pre-sanctions levels," he said.

Neradko added that the passenger traffic of Russian airlines in January-May increased by 21% year-on-year. "In May of this year, our airlines carried almost the same number of passengers as in May 2021, that is, before the imposition of sanctions. In the first five months of this year, passenger traffic of Russian companies increased by 21%, that is, by almost a quarter compared to last year," he said.

Aeroflot airline reported earlier it increased passenger traffic by 55.2% year-on-year to 2 mln passengers in May 2023. At the same time, Aeroflot Group increased traffic by 35.9% in May to 3.7 mln passengers.