Air Charter Service Russia sees signs of return to growth in charter market

Following a steady decline in Russian charter flight volumes over the past two years, leading aircraft charter provider, Air Charter Service, has reported that it is starting to see the shoots of recovery in private jet bookings from its Moscow operation in the last few months.

Azat Mulgimov, managing director of ACS Russia comments: “Over the 18 months to February of this year, we only saw three months where charter numbers rose compared to the same month the year before. Since then, however, we have had four months of year on year growth in 2016.

“We have seen the first quarter of continuous growth in terms of volumes of private jets booked by our Moscow office; in June, July and August this year charter numbers rose by 11% compared to the same three months in 2015. So far in September the market has been strong in the region too, so we are hoping that the trend will continue. The relaunch and update of www.aircharter.ru has seen instant rewards and almost certainly contributed to the figures, with a noticeable rise in online enquiries since we made the changes.

“It has been a tough few years for the Russian market and our offices here have not been performing as well as our other global operations. By no means are we up to levels of charters from three years ago, but we are optimistic that fortunes might finally be turning for the region.”