ATOR told how to make plane tickets cheaper

The Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) sent a letter to the Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov with a proposal for a number of measures that should contribute to reducing the cost of air transportation within Russia.
According to Rosaviatsia, since 2009, the share of domestic air transportation in the total volume of passenger traffic by Russian airlines has been decreasing annually by an average of 1-1.5%.
ATOR listed the main reasons that lead to a systematic decrease in the share of domestic transportation: unreasonably high prices for air travel, an undeveloped network of air routes within the country, and the prohibitively high cost of airport services.
The letter emphasizes that the development of passenger transportation in the country is impossible without the introduction of preferential tariffs for children, pensioners, people with disabilities, and the adoption of special programs that allow you to purchase tickets for the minimum cost. “Special fares, as a rule, are declared by carriers, but in reality it is almost impossible to use them – when booking, it is reported that there are no seats, or this special offer does not apply to this flight, or as a result, after adding a number of fees, the cost of the ticket becomes at least the same as the standard fare,” the ATOR letter to the Minister of Transport says. While world practice shows that it is the elderly and young people who are the most mobile and travel more often.”
One of the latest innovations of airlines is the abolition of remuneration to agencies. If earlier the airline assumed the costs of rewarding its agents, now the companies that have the right to sell air tickets will have to introduce a margin to make their activities profitable, i.e. the cost of tickets will increase by at least 500 - 1000 rubles per person. “Thus, conditions are artificially created for a forced increase in the cost of the ticket and conditions for restricting competition among sellers of air tickets,” the letter says.
One of the ATOR proposals concerns small aviation: “to allow regular flights within and between regions on small aircraft, creating special conditions for such airlines and for owners of airports destined for small aviation (for example, by reducing or eliminating income tax during the first year of operation).”
Undeveloped air traffic in our huge country is one of the reasons for the slow development of domestic tourism. There are regular flights between major cities and raw materials regions. While in order to get, for example, from Novosibirsk to Kaliningrad, you need to fly through Moscow. Thus, the Baltic resorts of Russia are practically inaccessible to residents of this region, since the flight alone will cost them at least 41,000 rubles. A direct flight to the balneological resort of all-Russian significance Caucasian Mineral Waters is available to residents of only nine cities, the letter reads. In this regard, the Association proposes to analyze the existing air network routes and increase their number, including in areas where the issue of developing competition and reducing the cost of air transportation for consumers is particularly acute.”
According to the First Vice-President of ATOR Vladimir Kantorovich, the Association of Tour Operators appealed to the Ministry of Transport with a request to create an interdepartmental working group to solve these and other problems in domestic transportation. We have proposed a number of measures aimed at reducing the cost of air tickets and increasing the number of passengers. For example, refund 18% VAT on domestic transportation at least partially, for example, in cases where the ticket is included in the package. We believe that airport audits are also needed to reduce airport fees and ground handling costs.
And finally, to introduce existing, not mythical, special fares for children, pensioners and passengers with disabilities. These measures should be discussed by the inter-ministerial working group.”