‘The number of Russian air carriers tends to go down: there were only 182 operating airlines at the beginning of 2007 against 252 companies in 2002. About half of the former players had to leave since they failed to meet the certification requirements; another half had to close down for economic reasons,’ head of Ural division of Federal Transport Surveillance Agency Anatoly Telegin said at the 4th air travel conference Urals’ Open Sky 2007 on April 13, 2007.

‘95% of all domestic flights are performed by the country’s top 30 air carriers (including Ural Airlines), the remaining 5% of flights are performed by the other 152 airlines. This only proves once again that to fully saturate the air travel market, 30 to 40 carriers will suffice,’ he said.