Russian September airline traffic down 20% under effect of sanctions

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Passenger numbers on Russian airlines were down 20% in September from last year, as the impact of Western sanctions continues to weigh on the industry.

Russian airlines carried 9.87 million passengers in September, Russia's statistics agency Rosstat said on Wednesday, down 20% from September 2021.

Western countries banned Russian airlines from using their airspace in response to Moscow sending its armed forces into Ukraine in February, cutting them off from lucrative routes to Europe and the United States.

Aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing have also stopped selling planes, parts and equipment to Russian airlines, forcing some companies to cannibalise existing jets to get hold of spare parts.

Traffic for the entire first nine months of the year was down 13.1% to 72.6 million passengers, Rosstat said.

(Reporting by Darya Korsonskaya; Writing by Jake Cordell; Editing by Kevin Liffey)