Airport fees: how much money airlines pay to 45 largest Russian air stations

Why do airlines give 15% of their costs to airports?

Not only a city's attractiveness but also the attractiveness of very airport affects passenger traffic that was analysed by Realnoe Vremya. According to data given by the Ministry of the Economic Development, costs of airport service account for about 15% of all airport costs. These costs take the third position among the costs of airlines after fuel and lubricants and payments for leasing or fleet rent. Moreover, the costs of airlines directly influence ticket prices and, consequently, the convenience of an airport for passengers. The size of fees almost completely depends on the appetite of an airport where the plane takes off and lands. An airport can carry out manoeuvres within wide limits even in fixed tariffs set by the state.

Air passengers well know what the 'airport' or 'fuel fee' means. There is a great amount of airport fees from aviation security see to liquid soap in the toilet on a plane. The list of these services can differ depending on a specific airport. All fees are mentioned on the page of every airport in a special section. However, some tariffs are compulsorily set by every air harbour. We addressed them in our research. It is take-off and landing fee (per tonne of Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW); sums are different depending on whether it is a domestic or an international flight), aviation security fee (per every tonne of MTOW or per passenger), airport terminal fee (per passenger; the sum is different for domestic and international flights), handling fees (per capita; the sum also depends on whether it is a domestic or an international flight). All these fees are imposed for Russian and foreign airlines separately. In addition, there are additional fees. For example, some airports increase the price for take-off and landing from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the price for fuel and use of a transport to get a plane – a jet bridge or a bus – can be significantly different. There are many parameters. But the four of them are main ones. It doesn't mean payment of these four fees to an airport is the end. But the sum of these fees gives to understand how expensive an airport is for an airline.

Airport terminal fee is one of the four basic service fees. Photo: Maksim Platonov

Russian Airbus and foreign Boeing

As tariffs for Russian and foreign airlines are significantly different, we did two types of calculations. The first one, a mid-range Airbus A321, which is the most popular plane, that has an 80% load (according to the vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia Dmitry Gorin, it is an average load of flights in Russia), was designed to calculate tariffs for Russian airlines operating domestic flights. The standard A321 in two classes holds 170 passengers. Having supposed that the plane has an 80% load, let's imagine that 135 people fly. MTOW is 89 tonnes. The second type is a wide-body Boeing 767 that, for example, operates flights from Kazan to Bangkok. It was chosen for international flights. Let's say this plane has a 90% load (at the height of a tourist season). Boeing 767-300ER has a MTOW equal to 186 tonnes and a passenger capacity up to 260 people. Consequently, about 210 people will fly on 'our' plane.

Begishevo is more favourable than Kazan for foreigners

It was more difficult to compare tariffs for foreign airlines because the majority of the airports use the U.S. dollar for calculations. For example, Simferopol uses rubles, but Pulkovo decided to calculate its tariffs in euros. This is why we converted all tariffs into rubles according to the official exchange rate of Central Bank in order to have universal results. It turned out quite a big number of airports in cities with a population over 1,5 million people can offer airlines good tariffs. For example, airports of Belgorod, Arkhangelsk, Simferopol and Nizhnekamsk were more favourable for foreign airlines than the Moscow airports, even better than the Moscow Domodedovo. However, it should be noted that international flights from Simferopol are not operated if we take into account the sanctions imposed against Crimea. According to the airport's timetable, there is no flight outside Russia. In Belgorod, a foreign airline will pay for Boeing about 164,000 rubles. It is approximately 80% less than a payment for the analogous aircraft at the cheapest Moscow airport Domodedovo. Arkhangelsk that became the runner-up will get 208,800 rubles – it is 27% more than the Belgorod airport and 40% less than Domodedovo. Fees at the Nizhnekamsk airport Begishevo are more expensive but, anyway, more favourable than the Moscow ones – 260,000 rubles. The big Krasnoyarsk airport Yemelyanovo rounded out the top 5. Its fees for the mentioned Boeing make up 285,000 rubles.

Fees at Koltsovo (Yekaterinburg) are more expensive than in Kazan

Three Moscow airports continue the rating. But they are mixed with regional airports that appear in the thirtieth positions of the rating by passenger traffic. Domodedovo is the cheapest airport among the airports of the capital. It asks 293,000 rubles as fees from a foreign airline. The Anapa Airport (333,000 rubles) gave way to Domodedovo but was more attractive than Vnukovo (345,000 rubles) and Sheremetyevo (355,000 rubles). Balandino located in Chelyabinsk appeared between Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo (350,000 rubles). The Kazan airport was the 17 ^th only. However, it has a 5% margin from the neighbouring Ufa airport (398,000 rubles). In Kazan, the fees are 420,000 rubles. It should be said it is 43% more than at the cheapest Moscow airport Domodedovo. At the same time fees at such airports as Rostov-on-Don, Pulkovo (Petersburg), Kurumoche (Samara), Tolmachevo (Novosibirsk) and Koltsovo (Yekaterinburg) are more expensive than in Kazan.

Siberia and Far East were the most expensive regions for Russian airlines

Sheremetyevo is the most favourable destination for Russian airlines. We considered Terminal D, which is the basic largest terminal of Aeroflot. Here take-off and landing fee, aviation security fee, terminal fee and handling fee for the 'Russian' Airbus A321 totalled 46,400 rubles per plane. Another Moscow airport Vnukovo was included in the top 3. Vnukovo was the third busiest airport in 2015. The costs for the A321 number 61,300 rubles, which is a third more than at Sheremetyevo. However, the Makhachkala airport took the second position all of a sudden. Its fees are equal to 60,300 rubles if we mean Russian airlines. It is a third more than at Sheremetyevo but 1,5% cheaper than at Vnukovo. The Moscow Vnukovo, the airport of Arkhangelsk, Saratov, Perm, Vladivostok and Ufa were on the list of the cheapest airports. The third Moscow airport Domodedovo was the 10 ^th. Kazan occupied the 15^th position (83,200 rubles). But the airport of the capital of Tatarstan was more attractive than the airports in Samara and Nizhny Novgorod. The position of the Nizhnekamsk Begishevo is even lower (124,400 rubles) – it was 30^th.

Nizhnekamsk Begishevo was 30 ^th position on the list of the cheapest airports. Photo: stoleo1976.livejournal.com

The majority of the airports located in small cities cannot boast about low tariffs for airlines that operate domestic flights. So, there is a noticeable tendency: small airports in Siberia and Far East were frankly expensive. Airports of Siberian and Far Eastern cities like Surgut, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Barnaul, Yakutsk and Novy Urengoy were the most expensive airports we analysed. Despite high tariffs, many airports situated in small cities of Russia almost offer their services. For example, the pricey airport in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is not open on Mondays and Thursday till the end of November because the runway is under repair. The Astrakhan airport, which is international, operated only one flight on 16 August. But even the airports of bigger cities don't offer regular flights and many destinations: on the same day, on 16 August, for instance, the Chelyabinsk airport operated only 9 flights to Moscow and one to Petersburg and Simferopol.