Russian airlines continue to report rising demand, with 2003 traffic up 11.5% compared with the year before, to 29.5 million passengers. Flag carrier Aeroflot Russian Airlines says traffic rose 11.5% to 5.8 million passengers, and predicts that 2004 will see a sharper, 17%, rise to 6.8 million. Aeroflot expects to be carrying 15 million passengers annually by 2010. Sibir, Aeroflot's main competitor on domestic routes, also reported markedly higher traffic, up 21% to 3.4 million passengers, and smaller carriers KrasAir, Pulkovo, Ural Airlines and UTAir also reported sharp traffic rises.

Source: Flight International