Russian tourists increasingly willing to pay for business class comfort

Russian travelers are increasingly ready to pay for comfort in the air, according to an analytical study by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). Analysts examined the November schedule of 23 airlines operating direct flights from Moscow to 13 countries (21 destinations) and calculated the number of business-class seats, how quickly they sell out, and ticket prices. However, no specific ticket prices in rubles were provided in the source data, so no currency conversion is included.  

The study covered regular and charter flights of 23 airlines, including 16 foreign carriers. Based on the schedule, aircraft types, and cabin configurations, ATOR calculated the offered capacity (not actual passenger traffic), counting only full-fledged business class with proper seats.  

Across these destinations, airlines offer approximately 520,000–530,000 seats of all classes on about 2,000–2,200 flights. Full business class accounts for about 29,000–31,000 seats, or 5–6% of the total offer. Thus, for every 15–20 seats offered, there is roughly one business-class seat.  

Dubai leads in absolute terms: airlines offer about 11,000–12,000 business-class seats per month, or 8–9% of all seats on the route. Abu Dhabi ranks second by volume and first by the ratio of business to economy: about 3,800–4,000 business seats per month, around 10% of all seats.  

The UAE accounts for more than half (about 51–52%) of all offered business-class capacity on the studied foreign tourist destinations from Moscow. Thailand (all resorts) follows with about 3,400–3,800 seats, Antalya with 2,500–3,000, and Vietnam (all resorts) with 2,400–2,800 business seats in November.  

However, a large number of business seats does not necessarily mean the highest concentration of affluent travelers. By share of premium traffic, the ranking is: Seychelles and Indonesia (Bali) at about 9%; UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah) and Tanzania (Zanzibar) at about 8.5%; China (Sanya) and India (Goa) at about 7.8%; Oman (Muscat) and Maldives at about 7.2–7.4%; Vietnam at about 6.7–7.2%; Thailand at about 6.1%; Sri Lanka at about 3.7%; Egypt (Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh) at about 2.6%; and Turkey (Antalya) at about 2.2%.  

Thus, Seychelles and Bali lead in business-class concentration (about 9% of all seats on each route), although in absolute numbers they lag far behind the UAE: in November, Seychelles offers about 220–260 business seats, Bali 450–500, while the UAE offers about 15,000–16,000 (8–9% of total capacity to the country). Antalya, which ranks second by total traffic volume (about 130,000 seats per month), is at the very bottom by business-class share: only about 2% of the offer, or 2,500–3,000 seats per month. 

Photo from official web-site of Aeroflot