It’s boom time for Russian arrivals in Asia-Pacific countries, which ForwardKeys attributes to a doubling in seat capacity on direct flights from Russia to select destinations in the region.
Direct flights from Russia to Asia-Pacific more than doubled as airlines increased their seat capacity substantially. Overall seat capacity was up 37.6%, with the highlights being a 124.8% increase in seats to Thailand and 153% to Vietnam.
Total international arrivals in Asia-Pacific were up 3.8% from May 2018 to April 2019. However, Russia’s 54.5% increase meant Europe was the top growing origin continent, up 6.3%.
ForwardKeys notes the extent of Russia’s sharply renewed enthusiasm for Asia-Pacific after reviewing historical figures. The volume of arrivals rocketed towards the end of last summer, according to ForwardKeys’ data.
Growth in Russian leisure travellers (up 62.8%) dramatically outstripped business travel (up 27.5%) and they’re staying for 16 nights on average. In line with general trends towards shorter lead times, the Russians are booking fewer days in advance, 65.8 days, down from 78.1 days.
ForwardKeys vice president, insights, Olivier Ponti, said: “For the Asia-Pacific region, Russia is now the ninth top origin country – by share – outside of Asia-Pacific itself. It’s due to a combination of increased seat capacity on direct flights, high-profile political visits and astute marketing… as well as agile capacity meeting demand.”
