The firstinter-regional economic forum “Development of Regional Aviation of Russia”organized by Department of Transport and Communications of the Government ofMoscow, with support from the State Duma of the Russian Federation, took place in Moscow on March 18 – 19, 2009. Among theparticipants were leading economic and financial analysts, representatives offederal bodies of legislative and executive authorities, representatives ofregional authorities, representatives of Russian and foreign carriers, aircraftmanufacturers, the largest airports of Russian regions and consulting companiesas well as other participants of the market from a segment of regionalaviation.
The maingoal of the Forum was to consolidate the efforts of significant market playersof regional aviation in the light of the global economic downturn and to createa constructive dialogue between government and business.
In theframework of the Forum, Leonid Shvarts, Director General of Kurumoch InternationalAirport, made a presentation “DevelopmentProspects of Regional and Local Services from Samara Airport”.This line of the development of the Russian aviation industry is one of thetopical questions today. It is included in the Russian Transport Strategydeveloped by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation for the period until 2030 and approved by theGovernment of the Russian Federation. The revival of intra-regionaland local services is vital to keep the strategic unity of this country and alsoair communication continuity within it.
The Samararegion has become one of the first regions of the Volga Federal District totake active steps to revive and develop intra-regional and local services. Thisinitiative of Kurumoch Airport has been approvedby the Government of the Samara region. A Feasibility Study for this project isnow being produced by Lufthansa Consulting GmbH, an independent subsidiary ofthe Lufthansa Aviation Group providing services and solutions to the airtransportation industry worldwide. This consulting company, by the way, hasalso taken part in the Forum.
Themanagement of Lufthansa Consulting GmbH sees high economic strength of theSamara region and Kurumoch International Airportas part of it. According to the experts’ opinion, due to Samara’s favourablegeographical location, it is Kurumoch Airport to have thehighest potential to develop intra-regional and local services and to create anair transport hub.
The Forum “Development of Regional Aviation of Russia-2009” has helped to create afuller picture of the current condition and development prospects of Russianair transport as well as to promote more dynamic actions of federal bodies toincrease investment attractiveness of Russia’s regional aviation.