UPD: Andrey Nikitin has been appointed as the acting head of the Ministry of Transport.
From 2011 to 2017, Nikitin held the position of CEO of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, and from February 2017 to February 2025, he was the governor of the Novgorod region.
Putin dismissed Roman Starovoit from the post of Minister of Transport, which he had held since May 2024, the corresponding order was published on the Kremlin's website. The reasons for the dismissal were not explained.
The day before, Rosaviatsiya reported that more than 250 flights were canceled amid attacks by Ukrainian drones in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod. In Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, 171 flights were canceled, in Pulkovo in St. Petersburg — 90 flights, and in Nizhny Novgorod airport — 26 flights. More than 100 flights in the three cities were also delayed.
“The situation is manageable, the Russian air transport system is coping with periodic external interference in its operation. Airlines have sufficient resources to operate under the current conditions,” commented Rosaviatsiya.
On Monday morning, the agency reported that over the past 2 days, 1.9 thousand flights were delayed for departure and arrival, and 43 thousand forced ticket returns were processed. 88 flights were diverted to alternate airports.
According to Rosaviatsiya, 94 thousand people were accommodated in hotels. This morning in Moscow and St. Petersburg, flight delays continue.
Meanwhile, the damage to airlines from the collapse in Russian airports on July 5-6 was estimated at 20 billion rubles, reported “Kommersant.”
A source in one of the airlines estimated the diversion of an aircraft to an alternate airport at 1.5–2 million rubles for four hours. A delay of a Boeing 737 flight for more than 15 minutes costs 1.5 million rubles — excluding passenger expenses.
Additionally, when assessing the damage, the losses of passengers who miss connecting flights and destinations, as well as the losses of taxi services and other related sectors, are taken into account.