SUBSIDIZING PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION ON LOCAL AIRLINES IN INTER-MUNICIPAL COMMUNICATION ON THE TERRITORY OF THE TRANS-BAIKAL TERRITORY

Abstract

The changes that took place in the Russian economy in the post-Soviet period led to a sharp reduction in the volume of domestic air traffic. This has especially affected sparsely populated and remote areas. The main reasons for this decline were falling incomes of the population, the deterioration of the fleet and ground infrastructure. The situation is complicated by the large extent of the territory of the Russian Federation, most of which is the Arctic and subarctic zones with many settlements, the accessibility of which cannot be provided by means of land transport. In recent years, the state at the federal and regional levels has begun to pay great attention to improving the system of municipal air transportation and increasing the availability of these services for the population. The main tool for implementing state policy in this area is subsidizing regional routes.

In the Trans-Baikal Territory, on the territory of which there are 25 remote and 32 hard-to-reach settlements, in order to support air transport organizations, as well as to reduce the cost of a ticket for passengers, a subsidy is provided from the regional budget to compensate for lost income and (or) financial support (reimbursement) for flights to remote and hard-to-reach settlements, where there is no alternative transport, or its use is inconvenient due to the long length of the route. The mechanisms for subsidizing routes depend on the type of route. For interested parties (passenger, carrier, state), subsidizing transportation on local airlines has positive and negative sides.