This figure exceeds the four million people travelling by air in the same period in 2021, according to the annual report of the transport agency, the Izvestia newspaper highlighted on Wednesday.

The international passenger traffic of Russian airlines decreased by almost 16 percent compared to foreign ones, transporting “only” 13 million people from January to September.

Globally, the total number of passengers on international flights to and from Russia during the first nine months of the year increased by 11 percent, representing a figure of 21.7 million people.

61 percent of passengers used the airports in Moscow, the report said.

Following the start of the special military operation in Ukraine on February 24th, many European states closed their airspace to Russian flights.

In response, Moscow took reciprocal measures and also banned flights over national territory to airlines from 36 countries.

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