The An-2 Operators Association plans to appeal to the Transport Ministry with a proposal to introduce state regulation of aviation fuel prices. The organization’s president, Vladimir Antonov, told the newspaper Kommersant. He said the association had already submitted a similar request to Rosaviatsia, whose representatives told journalists they had reviewed the proposal but that it fell outside the agency’s authority.
Antonov said fuel accounts for more than a third of all costs for passenger airlines, while the share is even higher in small aviation. In his assessment, rising prices are worsening the economics of air transport, reducing demand for services, and cutting passenger traffic.
According to the association’s letter to the Transport Ministry, the most difficult situation concerns aviation gasoline. The document says that because of higher prices, some market participants have started using regular gasoline, which, it notes, is “not of good quality everywhere.”
Why prices are rising
Price agency Argus previously reported that after the start of the war involving the United States and Israel against Iran, jet fuel prices in Europe rose by more than twofold, while in Asia they increased by 2.5 times, reaching record highs. The Bell explained that jet fuel reacts especially sharply to crises because its yield from a ton of oil is lower than that of gasoline or diesel, meaning shortages can arrive faster. In addition, Persian Gulf countries supplied a significant share of aviation fuel to Europe and Asia.
In Russia, Kommersant notes, exports of jet fuel have been restricted from June 1 to November 30 in order to maintain stability on the domestic market. Back in March, according to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the price of Russian jet fuel in northwestern ports doubled because of the Middle East conflict and an expected shortage of feedstock. Aviation gasoline rose by roughly the same amount, said Dmitry Toropov, генеральный директор LightAir.
Toropov said that among Russia’s major airports, aviation gasoline is currently available only in Ufa and Volgograd, forcing small aviation either to carry fuel in special containers or rely on private aeroclubs.
Vadim Tsyganash, executive director of the Association of Aerial Works, said the situation is not yet critical, but is moving in that direction, and that within the next month the issue may become especially acute.