MINSK, 14 April (BelTA) – Flights via the Minsk National Airport have dropped by 76%, the airport's press service told BelTA.
Air carriers started cancelling scheduled flights in bulk after 15 March due to the spread of the coronavirus. The airport had been servicing 100% of the scheduled flights before 15 March. The number of flights took a nosedive after the date – 76% of the scheduled flights have been cancelled.
At present the airport caters to 15-16 passenger flights per day (departures and arrivals) and three cargo flights. In April 2019 the airport catered to 120-125 flights per day on the average. In Q1 2020 the airport catered to about 939,000 passengers (0.2% up) and 5,864 flights (4.5% down).
The Minsk National Airport continues catering to the flights that still remain on schedule as well as charter flights and evacuation flights that bring Belarusian citizens home and help citizens of other countries get home. The airport also caters to cargo flights, including aircraft carrying medical humanitarian aid. In Q1 2020 the Minsk airport received and processed over 4,792 tonnes of air freight, 32.6% up from Q1 2019.
The drastic decrease in passenger traffic and the number of flights has considerably affected economic performance of the airport. Taking into account the light workload the airport decided to switch to skeleton crews. Official downtime for at least ten days in accordance with shift schedules was declared in various departments of the airport from 1 April through 30 April.
