OREANDA-NEWS. In April - October 2013 within the framework of the air transportation subsidy program regional passenger traffic at NOVOSIBIRSK International Airport amounted to about 28 thousand people.

Government support is provided by means of the federal budget and applies to airlines operating flights on regional routes in accordance with the list of subsidized destinations as specified in regulations of the Government of the Russian Federation № 265 dated March 27, 2013 and № 509 dated 18 June 2013.

Under these programs support is granted to airlines operating flights from NOVOSIBIRSK International Airport to 11 cities in Siberia and the Urals federal district such as Gorno-Altaisk, Kyzyl, Strezhevoi, Khanty-Mansiysk, Abakan, Barnaul, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Omsk, Tomsk and Tyumen. Such airlines as Tomsk Avia, IrAero, Yamal and UTair have already benefited from these subsidies by performing air transportation to these cities.

The majority of flights on such routes are performed due to the programs of state support. Thus flight connection between Novosibirsk and the cities in Siberia and the Urals which was lost more than 10 years ago has been restored.

At the same time, existing routes from Novosibirsk to Khanty-Mansiysk and Omsk demonstrated a positive trend after the start of subsidizing. Thus, the number of passengers to Khanty-Mansiysk in April-October 2013 increased by 34.7% compared to the same period in 2012, and passenger traffic from Novosibirsk to Omsk increased by 3.9 times (primarily by increasing the frequency of flights).

The development of regional route network is one of the priority areas of NOVOSIBIRSK International Airport. Due to the opening of regional flights, transfer passengers from other regions are able to use an extensive route network of NOVOSIBIRSK International Airport which includes more than 90 destinations in Russia and abroad.

NOVOSIBIRSK International Airport is the largest air hub in Russia east of the Urals on major transit routes between Europe and Asia. The domestic terminal capacity makes up to 1,800 passengers per hour, while the capacity on international flights - up to 750 passengers per hour. The airport has two runways. In 2013 it expects to serve over 3.7 million passengers.