Воздушный транспорт России: тенденции развития и региональная специфика Дальнего Востока

The Air Transport of Russia: Development Tendencies and Regional Specifics of the Russian Far East

The air transport specialization is the movement over the long distances. That s why air transport is especially important for the Russian Far East. Here is a vast territory with insufficiently developed railways or roads networks and high space localization of the human settlements. This article discusses the functioning of the Russian air transport, and especially air transport in the Far East. Dynamics of air transport during 2010-2014 were analyzed. There was a significant increase in the number of passengers (63%) and growth of freight traffic (11%). There were slowdowns in the growth of international traffic and the increase in the growth rate of domestic traffic. The causes of these changes are formulated. The current situation in the air transport is characterized by the traffic concentration at the few airports of the western part of the Russia. There is no effective air transport system at regional and local levels. Therefore the state policy in the field of air transport in the country is aimed on the support and development of a network of regional and local airports now. One international air hub on the base of the new Khabarovsk airport will operate in the Russian Far East in the long term until 2050. A system of federal and regional air hubs will be built in addition. The main objective of the federal and regional airports will consist of traffic between the airports of a similar level within the country, as well as the delivery of passengers to the international air hub. The system of regional airports will be the most extensive. These airports will accumulate the passengers for the federal level hubs and the international level hub airport.