Back to school rush driving air ticket demand and prices

With the beginning of the school year, and growing number of Moscow and St. Petersburg students coming from the distant Russian regions, airline ticket prices have shown double digit price growth

­According to statistic data posted by online airline ticket agency and search engine AviaSales.ru demand for air tickets from regions to Moscow and St. Petersburg have been soaring since early July when novice undergraduates take their chance to apply to state universities. On average the price of air tickets has soared 2-3 times according to Aviasales.ru
“The seasonal price increase was not a surprise. In some cities air tickets to the Northern Capital of Russia and Moscow cost almost 3 times more than the average. Notably, the price of the air ticket from Novosibirsk to Moscow increased by 28.42% from 7016 roubles to 9858 roubles per one way ticket.  Our ticket search engine statistics showed that the number of requests for air tickets from Yekaterinburg to Moscow has increased to 1329 in July 2011 from 374 in June 2011. Over 950 requests for air tickets from Novosibirsk to Moscow have been spotted by our air tickets search engine in July which demonstrates almost 800% growth of demand.”

A second wave of skyrocketing air ticket prices has been noticed in August on the same flight routes with the most significant demand for traveling to Moscow and St. Petersburg coming  from the Urals, noted Aviasales.ru  “The number of request has grown in geometrical progression. For instance, Aviasales.ru has received 991 requests for tickets from Irkutsk region to Moscow in July where by over 801 request was received in the first week of August. The same situation was with demand for air tickets form Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk”
St. Petersburg flight direction was more moderate compared to Moscow says, Konstantin Kalinov, Head of Aviasales.ru  
“The price of air tickets to St. Petersburg has not grown significantly. However the highest jump in prices has been noticed on the route from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Prices have jumped by 5475 and 3445 roubles respectively.”
Konstantin Kalinov, Head of Aviasales.ru, says tickets search engine service can help to reduce the cost of flight if some rules are considered
“We have noticed that many people still perceive rising air ticket prices as a constant. But we continue to inform our customers about the expected price surges or increase, and we also note that the prices depend on seasonal factors such as popular events in the country of travel, and more or less on the date of flight.”

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