MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Russian airlines transported about fifteen million passengers in January - February 2024, which is 8.8% more than in the like period of the last year, head of the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Dmitry Yadrov told TASS in an interview at the Russia Expo forum.

"Concerning growth, we have about 15 mln passengers carried over two months of 2024. The increase by 8.8% is observed against 2023. Besides, we have the seat occupancy rate increased by 2 percentage points, to 87.3%. This evidences in the first instance the demand and the improved connectivity [of Russian regions]. Our domestic carriage also has very good growth," he said.

International transportation gained about 21% over the first two months of 2024, Yadrov noted. "As you know, there is the direct air service with 38 countries, 54 foreign airlines are flying to Russia, so the work is in progress in this regard," the official stressed.