Changes in the volume of air traffic and specialization of segments of the Moscow Aviation Hub from 2014 to 2021

Shulgina Ol'ga Professor, Chair of the Department of Geography and Tourism at Moscow City Teachers’ Training University 129226, Russia, g. Moscow, pr-d 2-I sel'skokhozyaistvennyi, 4 olga_shulgina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Golovko Gleb Glebovich Student of the Department of Geography and Tourism, Moscow City Pedagogical University 129226, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. 2-I sel'skokhozyaistvennyi proezd, 4 GolovkoGG320@mgpu.ru

The relevance of this study is due, on the one hand, to the significant role of aviation transport in the modern global world with its increasing mobility and the impact of air transportation on the economies of countries and regions ^[1], on the other – insufficient historical and statistical understanding of the specifics of the development of this type of transport in Russia at the beginning of the XXI century.

The article is devoted to the dynamics of the development of the Moscow aviation hub in the second decade of the XXI century. The subject of the study is a statistical analysis of changes in the volume of air transportation of passengers, cargo and mail at the Moscow Aviation Hub from 2014 to 2021, both in general and for individual airports in comparison. The change in the share of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo in the total volume of the listed types of air transportation is analyzed. The dynamics of the ratio of domestic and international air transportation is investigated. The share of the Moscow aviation hub in the total volume of passenger traffic, cargo turnover and postal air transportation in Russia is considered.

The main contribution of the authors to the study of the topic is to consider changes in the statistical parameters of the operation of the airports of the Moscow aviation hub in the context of socio-economic and geopolitical processes, in historical and historical-geographical conditionality; in identifying the key factors of the current dynamics.

The novelty of the study is to identify the main trends in the development of the volume and structure of air transportation of the Moscow aviation hub from 2014 to 2021 under the conditions of sanctions pressure and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research is based on statistical, historical-geographical, problem-analytical methods, as well as the method of system-structural analysis. This made it possible to conduct an objective, scientifically-based analysis of the processes of changing the volume of air traffic in the Moscow aviation hub.           

The study of the development of air transport in Russia is in the field of view of representatives of various scientific fields: economists, geographers, engineers, managers. At the same time, a number of works address the problems of the development of the Moscow aviation hub, which is fully justified by its high role in the volume of air transportation. The following main aspects are highlighted in the scientific literature in this way: problems of domestic passenger air transportation (Gruenko I.S., 2008) ^[3]; the state and prospects of development of Russian airports (Gainochenko T.M., 2009) ^[2]; development of the international air transportation market in the global economic system (Nikolishvili D.Z., 2022) ^[15]; problems of the Russian air transportation market in 2017-2018. (Sheleg E.A., 2022) ^[27]; the state of the world and Russian markets for international air cargo transportation (Kholopov K.V. et al., 2019) ^[26].        

It is impossible not to agree with the opinion of S.V. Kravtsov that air transportation is the most important component of the infrastructural development of Russia ^[8]. There is also no doubt about the conclusion of I.V. Mzhelskaya about the great importance of large regional hub airports in the development of the world and Russian markets for transport logistics services ^[12].         

In the context of our research, works devoted to the following issues are of considerable interest: changes in the air transport connectivity of Russian cities in 1990-2015 (Tarkhov S.A., 2018) ^[3]; the impact of economic instability on the passenger air transportation market (Rublev V.V., 2020) ^[17] and (Savelyeva Yu.V. 2017) ^[18]; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air transportation in Russia (Ratnikov A.O., Gamidov A.M., 2021) ^[16] and (Izmailova D.Z. et al., 2022) ^[5].        

Much less work has been devoted to the direct study of the peculiarities of the development of the Moscow aviation hub, among which one can single out: a study of the volume of air traffic at the airports of the Moscow aviation hub 1970-2004 by Fedyashova I.G. (2006) ^[25]; comparison of the zones of gravity of passenger traffic in Moscow and St. Petersburg by Sorokin O.V. and Samburova K.V. (2021) ^[19]; socio-economic consequences of the development of airport networks by Kochneva A.V. and Kotenko E.D. (2017) ^[7]; improvement of the airport management system by the example of Domodedovo – the work of Kirsanov S.A., Ferafontova M.V., Wang B. (2017). Finally, it is worth mentioning the monograph by Vakulenko S.P. et al., devoted to the prospects for the development of the Moscow transport hub, of which the aviation hub is an integral part (2020) ^[14]. In this work summarizes the dynamics of air freight is the Moscow aviation hub from 2009 to 2019 (darowizny) year. Only generalized indicators are considered, and data on individual airports are presented in tabular form without comments, while there is no differentiation by type of cargo.

Thus, the scientific literature has not yet presented a differentiated comparative analysis of the changes in the volume of cargo transportation of individual airports of the Moscow aviation hub for the period from 2014 to 2021 in the context of changing socio-economic realities, geopolitical changes, due to the epidemiological situation.

The total volume of air traffic through the Moscow Aviation Hub is traditionally divided into the following three main categories:

- air transportation of passengers,

- air cargo transportation,

- air mail transportation.

The first feature of the dynamics of air transportation in the period under review is that these three main categories of transportation had different dynamics that did not coincide in categories. Thus, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24], passenger air transportation through the Moscow aviation hub has decreased since 2014, the share of this aviation hub in the total volume of air transportation in Russia has decreased; the volume of air cargo during this period has increased 1.5 times, and the share of the Moscow Aviation hub in the total volume of air cargo has increased; the volume of air transportation During this period, the volume of mail increased, but not as significantly as the volume of cargo transportation and the share of the Moscow aviation hub in air mail transportation during the period under review practically did not change.

It is worth noting that not only the volume of air transportation by passengers, cargo and mail has changed, but also the share of airports in the Mosok aviation hub, and the structure of air transportation through them.

Changes in the volume and structure of passenger air transportation at the Moscow Aviation HubFrom 2014 to 2021, there were several falls and rises in the Moscow Aviation Hub in terms of air passenger transportation.

The first decline occurred in 2016. Passenger traffic decreased by 1.6% compared to 2015. The largest reduction occurred at Vnukovo Airport, amounting to 11.8%. Domodedovo Airport was in second place, where the volume of air traffic decreased by 6.6%. The only airport that showed an increase was Sheremetyevo Airport, an increase of 7.6%. The reduction in air traffic occurred for several reasons. Firstly: the sanctions imposed against Russia, which have affected the reduction of international air traffic. Secondly: the closure of flights to Egypt and Ukraine.

                     Fig. 1. Commercial air transportation of passengers through the Moscow Aviation Hub, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24].

          From 2017 to 2019, there was a noticeable increase in air traffic at the Moscow Aviation Hub, amounting to 38.4%. The volume of air traffic covered the decrease in passenger traffic in 2016. In 2019, the Moscow Aviation hub reached its historical maximum in terms of passenger air traffic – 101,692 thousand passengers ^[24]. Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports have reached their historical maximum. Sheremetyevo Airport transported 49,439 thousand passengers ^[24], Vnukovo Airport served 24,002 thousand passengers ^[24]. The largest increase was shown by Vnukovo Airport, this increase was 72.1% compared to 2016. The increase at Sheremetyevo Airport amounted to 46.9%. Domodedovo Airport showed a decrease in passenger traffic, amounting to 0.9%. The growth is associated with an improvement in the economic and political situation and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, which led to an increase in the number of foreign tourists.

         In 2020, there was a sharp decline in passenger traffic. The overall decrease in the Moscow Aviation hub was 52.3%. This was a record decline in passenger traffic (comparable only to the drop in passenger traffic in the 1990s). The maximum decrease in air traffic occurred at Sheremetyevo Airport and amounted to 60.4%. In Vnukovo, the decrease reached 47.6%. The least passenger traffic decreased at Domodedovo Airport, where the decrease was 42%. Such a sharp reduction in air traffic is associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, when international traffic was completely closed for several months, and strict anti-epidemic measures followed after the lifting of flight bans. It is worth noting that the lifting of restrictions on flights did not happen in all countries.

         In 2021, passenger traffic in the Moscow Aviation Hub increased by 51.9%. The largest increase was at Domodedovo Airport, amounting to 56.5%. Sheremetyevo Airport is in second place with an increase of 52.9%. Vnukovo Airport is in third place, where the increase was 43.2%. The increase can be explained by the weakening of anti-epidemic measures related to COVID-19 in Russia, but passenger traffic on international routes did not give a large increase, since strict anti-epidemic measures were maintained in many foreign countries.

         As a result, from 2014 to 2021, there was a drop in passenger traffic at the Moscow Aviation hub. The main reason for the fall was bans on international flights or strict anti-epidemic measures both abroad and in Russia. There were minor drops in passenger traffic, but they were not so critical, and passenger traffic quickly recovered. Among all Moscow airports, Domodedovo Airport has constantly tended to decrease passenger traffic, unlike Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo.

Fig. 2. The share of airports in the Moscow aviation hub in passenger air transportation (according to the authors' calculations based on the source ^[24]).

From 2014 to 2021, the shares of airports in the transportation structure of the Moscow aviation hub were constantly changing. In 2014, Domodedovo Airport had the largest share, it was 42.9%. The share of Domodedovo Airport decreased from 42.9% in 2014 to 27.8% in 2019. The share of Sheremetyevo Airport increased from 40.6% in 2014 to 48.6% in 2019. The share of Vnukovo Airport increased from 16.5% in 2014 to 23.6% in 2019. The growth in the share of Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports is associated with several factors.

First: the construction of new terminals for passenger service. In 2012, Russia's largest air terminal opened in Vnukovo ^[9]. In 2018, a new terminal "B" was opened at Sheremetyevo Airport ^[10]. In 2018, the terminal "T 2.1" was put into operation at Domodedovo Airport ^[11], but it never opened for passengers.

Secondly: the opening in 2018 at Sheremetyevo airport of a new refueling complex ("AERO Sheremetyevo") with a capacity of 1.2 million tons of fuel per year.

Thirdly: in 2018, an interterminal crossing was commissioned at Sheremetyevo Airport ^[10], connecting the northern and southern terminal complexes.

Fourth: the commissioning of a new runway at Sheremetyevo Airport in 2019 ^[10], which increased the airport's capacity.

Fifthly: in 2015, the second largest airline in Russia, Transaero, ceased to exist at that time, whose passenger traffic was of considerable importance for Domodedovo Airport. Subsequently, some of the Transaero Airline's aircraft were transferred to Rossiya Airlines, which flies from Sheremetyevo.

In 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19, the shares of airports in the Moscow Aviation Hub have changed. The share of Sheremetyevo Airport decreased to 41.6%, approaching the level of 2014. The decrease in the share of Sheremetyevo is due to the fact that Sheremetyevo had a significant international flight network, larger than Domodedovo and Vnukovo, which was greatly reduced due to the pandemic. Domodedovo's share grew slightly, reaching 34% in 2021, and returned to the level of 2017. The share of Vnukovo Airport has increased and reached its maximum of 25.9% in 2020. In 2021, Vnukovo's share was 24.4%.

International and domestic passenger trafficThe ratio of domestic and international air traffic through the Moscow Aviation Hub has undergone significant changes from 2014 to 2021 ^[2].

In 2014, international passenger air transportation prevailed over domestic. 42,271 thousand passengers were transported on international routes, 34,762 thousand passengers on domestic routes ^[24].

Fig. 3 The structure of passenger air transportation through the Moscow Aviation Hub, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24].

From 2015 to 2021, international passenger air transportation was inferior in volume to domestic ^[21]. From 2014 to 2016, international passenger air traffic declined. This is due to the economic and political situation, the introduction of a number of sanctions against Russia and the closure of flights with Ukraine and Egypt. From 2017 to 2019, there was an increase in international passenger air traffic. In 2019, the maximum in international passenger air transportation through the Moscow Aviation Hub was reached, reaching 49,579 thousand passengers ^[24]. The growth is associated with the improvement of the economic and political situation and the holding of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when a large number of foreign tourists arrived in Russia through the UIA, who actively came in 2019.

         From 2014 to 2019, domestic passenger air traffic was constantly growing ^[20]. The growth is associated with a reorientation to domestic flights. In 2019, 52,113 thousand passengers were transported through the Moscow Aviation Hub ^[24]. The increase in 2019 compared to 2014 was 49.9%.

         In 2020, there was a sharp drop in both domestic and international travel. Due to COVID-19, international passenger air traffic has decreased more than domestic. This is due to the closure of borders and strict restrictive measures. International passenger air transportation decreased by 75.8% over the year. Domestic passenger air transportation decreased by 52.3% over the year.

         In 2021, there was an increase in international travel, amounting to 46.5%. The increase was large, but in absolute terms, international passenger air traffic through the Moscow Aviation Hub did not make up even half of the volume of 2014. The reason for this was either the closure of the borders of a number of countries, or strict anti-epidemic measures.

         Domestic passenger air transportation in 2021 increased by 53.6%. In absolute terms through The Moscow Aviation hub carried 56,117 thousand passengers ^[24]. This is a record figure for the entire selected period. The reason for this was the reorientation of passenger traffic from international flights to domestic ones, since weaker anti-epidemic measures were in effect in Russia than abroad.

         As a result, from 2014 to 2021, in the structure of air traffic through the Moscow Aviation Hub, international passenger air traffic decreased by 58.4% and domestic passenger air traffic increased by 61.4% (Table 1).  

Table 1. The share of the Moscow aviation hub from all commercial air transportation of passengers from Russian airports, compiled according to ^[24].

It can be seen that from 2014 to 2021, the share of the Moscow aviation hub in total air transportation in Russia decreased ^[20]. The reason for this, on the one hand, is the increase in the share of other airports in Russia, but the increase in the share of other airports, in general, was not significant. This process continued until 2019, when the share of the Moscow Aviation hub decreased, but not significantly – the decrease in the share from 2014 to 2021 was 2.8%. On the other hand, the reduction in the share of the Moscow aviation hub is associated with a sharp drop in international passenger air traffic due to COVID-19. It is worth noting that it was in the Moscow aviation hub that the share of international passenger air traffic from all airports in Russia accounted for a significant part. As a result, the share of UIA in 2021 fell by 6% compared to 2019. 

Changes in the volume and structure of air cargo transportation at the Moscow Aviation HubFrom 2014 to 2021, two falls and two rises occurred in the Moscow Aviation Hub in air cargo transportation.

The first decline was in 2015. The decrease in the volume of air cargo transportation amounted to 12.4%. Domodedovo Airport showed the largest decrease in volume at 17.9%. Sheremetyevo Airport was in second place with 9.9%. The smallest decrease was noted at Vnukovo Airport, amounting to 1.3%. The reason for the decrease in cargo turnover was the economic sanctions imposed against Russia and counter-sanctions imposed by Russia. The sanctions included the mutual embargo of a number of goods, as a result, there was a decrease in cargo turnover. Unlike passenger traffic, where people from international destinations have shifted to domestic destinations, this does not work with cargo, which was one of the reasons for the drop in cargo turnover a year earlier than the drop in passenger traffic.

Fig. 4. Commercial air cargo transportation via the Moscow Aviation Hub, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24].

From 2015 to 2018, there was an increase in cargo turnover through the Moscow Aviation Hub, amounting to 41.3%. The largest increase was recorded at Sheremetyevo Airport – 73.3%. At Vnukovo Airport, the increase was 70.6%. Domodedovo Airport, as well as in passenger traffic, showed negative results. The decrease in cargo turnover was 9.6%. The increase in cargo turnover from 2015 to 2018 is due to several reasons. In a few years, there has been a reorientation of cargo flows. More and more people ordered goods over the Internet, which affected the increase in cargo turnover.

From 2018 to 2020, a drop in cargo turnover was recorded. The decrease in cargo turnover in 2020 amounted to 14.4% compared to 2018. The largest decrease in cargo turnover was at Domodedovo Airport, amounting to 37.1%. At Vnukovo Airport, the decrease was 26.9%. The smallest decrease in cargo turnover was at Sheremetyevo Airport, which amounted to 3%. The reduction in cargo turnover in 2019 was less than in 2020.

The cargo turnover drops in 2019 and 2020 have different reasons. The reduction in cargo turnover in 2019 is due to the introduction of another package of sanctions against Russia, as a result, there was a decrease in trade turnover between European countries and Russia. A more dramatic decrease in cargo turnover in 2020 is associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, as there was a disruption of logistics chains due to the closure of borders, the introduction of restrictive measures, which led to the shutdown of many industries. On the one hand, there was nothing to deliver, on the other hand, an economic crisis occurred due to COVID-19, which led to a decrease in demand for many goods.

From 2020 to 2021, there was a significant increase in cargo traffic, amounting to 28.5%. In 2021, cargo turnover amounted to 540,807 tons ^[24] – this is the maximum cargo turnover since 2014. The largest increase over the year was recorded at Sheremetyevo Airport – 34.1%, followed by Vnukovo Airport with 25.3%. And Domodedovo Airport closes the list with an increase of 8%. Such a significant increase is due to several factors. Firstly: restrictive measures due to COVID-19 affected cargo transportation less than passenger transportation, so logistics chains recovered faster, unlike passenger air transportation. Secondly: due to anti-epidemic measures, people began to use online orders more often, which led to an increase in cargo turnover.

From 2014 to 2021, air cargo transportation at the Moscow Aviation Hub increased. The increase was 36.2% in 2021 compared to 2014. The maximum increase, amounting to 103.1%, was at Sheremetyevo Airport. The increase at Vnukovo Airport was 54.2%. There was a 49.6% decrease in cargo turnover at Domodedovo Airport. It should be noted that, unlike passenger traffic, there was an increase in cargo turnover. Freight transportation is influenced by economic, political and epidemiological factors earlier than passenger transportation, but it is also recovering faster. Due to the pandemic, there has not been such a sharp drop in cargo transportation as in the air transportation of passengers. Cargo turnover has restored the previous indicators and even increased them, and passenger traffic has not reached the previous indicators.

Fig. 5. The share of the airports of the Moscow aviation hub in air cargo transportation (according to the authors' calculations based on the source ^[24]).

From 2014 to 2021, the share of airports in the structure of the Moscow aviation hub has changed significantly. The share of Sheremetyevo Airport increased from 49.8% in 2014 to 74.1% in 2021. The share of Domodedovo Airport has been steadily declining, decreasing from 40.8% in 2014 to 15.1% in 2021. Vnukovo's share did not change much over the selected period, in 2014 it was 9.4%, by 2018 it had grown to 12.7%, and by 2021 it had fallen to 10.6%.

A significant increase in the share of Sheremetyevo Airport is associated with the development of cargo infrastructure. In 2017, a new cargo terminal of the Moscow-Cargo company was opened ^[28], and in 2019 a new runway was launched ^[10]. The development of infrastructure has allowed Sheremetyevo Airport to handle more cargo. This led to an increase in cargo turnover, the departure of part of the processed cargo from Domodedovo Airport to Sheremetyevo airport. It is worth noting that Sheremetyevo Airport is located in close proximity to two federal highways M-10 "Russia" and M-11 "Neva", connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. Domodedovo Airport is located at the end of the dead-end A-105 highway, which is 22 km away from the MKAD, there are no convenient high-speed exits to federal highways from the A105. There are a number of secondary routes connecting the A-105 with the M-4 "Don" and the Central Ring Road, but they are not convenient. All these factors led to an increase in Sheremetyevo's share and a decrease in Domodedovo's share in UIA.

Fig. 6. The structure of air cargo transportation through the Moscow Aviation Hub, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24].

In general, the following main changes in the transportation of goods related to economic, political and epidemiological factors can be noted.

         From 2014 to 2015, international cargo transportation decreased by 10.3%, and domestic by 14.9%. The reduction in international cargo transportation was due to economic sanctions against Russia.

         From 2015 to 2018, international air cargo transportation showed an increase of 65.2%, domestic air transportation increased by 41.3%. International air cargo transportation showed a greater increase than domestic air transportation. The increase in cargo transportation is associated with an improvement in the economic situation.

         From 2018 to 2020, there was a decline in international and domestic air cargo transportation. International cargo turnover from 2018 to 2020 decreased by 19.8%, domestic decreased by 3.5%. International air cargo transportation was more affected by sanctions in 2019 and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 than domestic air transportation. The decrease in cargo turnover on international and domestic air transportation in 2019 was less than in 2020.

         In 2021, there was an increase in international air cargo transportation by 33%, an increase in domestic air cargo transportation by 20.8%. International cargo turnover increased 1.6 times compared to domestic cargo turnover. The closure of borders, restrictive measures due to COVID-19 contributed to an increase in the order of imported goods via the Internet, and as a result to an increase in international cargo turnover.

         As a result, from 2014 to 2021, international air cargo transportation increased by 58.3%, and domestic air cargo transportation increased by 8.5%. The share of international air cargo transportation has increased in the overall structure of air transportation through the Moscow Aviation Hub. A greater increase in international cargo transportation is associated with an increase in orders of imported goods via the Internet (Table 2).

Table 2. The share of the Moscow aviation hub from all commercial air cargo transportation from Russian airports (according to the authors' calculations based on the source ^[24]).

Since 2014, the share of the Moscow aviation hub from all airports in Russia has increased from 51.4% in 2014 to 63.9% ^{[13; 23]}. There has been an even greater centralization of this hub in comparison with other airports in Russia in air cargo transportation. The city of Moscow is the most developed subject of the Russian Federation, where the growth of Internet orders is greater than in other regions. This factor has affected the increase in the share of UIA in air cargo transportation.

Changes in the volume and structure of air mail transportation in the Moscow Aviation HubBoth in passenger air transportation, cargo air transportation, and mail air transportation, there have been two ups and two downs.

The first decline occurred in 2015, it was 16.3% compared to 2014. The maximum decrease in the volume of air mail traffic occurred at Vnukovo Airport, amounting to 41.4%. A drop of 23% occurred at Domodedovo Airport. Sheremetyevo Airport showed a slight increase of 3.4%. The reason for the decrease in the volume of air mail was the sanctions imposed against Russia.

Fig. 7. Commercial air transportation of mail through the Moscow Aviation Hub, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24].

         From 2015 to 2019, there was an increase with a slight decrease of 0.7% in 2018. This slight decrease is not marked as a decline, since it is less than a percent and does not have a significant impact on the overall picture. The increase from 2015 to 2019 amounted to 88.4%. Absolute figures in postal air transportation in 2019 reached 85,231 tons ^[24] – this is a record figure for the period from 2014 to 2021. The largest increase was at Vnukovo Airport, amounting to 175.5%. Sheremetyevo Airport is in second place with an increase of 138.8%. Domodedovo Airport has the smallest increase, amounting to 9.9%. A number of factors influenced the increase. Firstly: sanctions against Russia (but they affected postal transportation the least). Secondly: the number of online orders has increased. Part of online orders, where the parcel size is small, is issued as a postal item, which was the reason for such an increase in postal air transportation.

         In 2020, postal air transportation decreased by 24.6%. The decrease at Sheremetyevo Airport was 39.2%. At Domodedovo Airport, postal air transportation decreased by 31.5%. Vnukovo Airport showed an increase of 34.5%. The reason for the decrease in postal transportation was the disruption of logistics chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a decrease in demand for postal air transportation due to the economic crisis associated with the pandemic.

         In 2021, postal air transportation increased by 10.3%. At Sheremetyevo Airport, the increase was 17.6%. At Vnukovo Airport, the increase was 6.6%. At Domodedovo Airport, the increase was 0.2%. The increase is due to the weakening of anti-epidemic measures in some countries and in Russia, which led to the restoration of logistics chains and increased demand for postal transportation. There was no recovery to the level of 2019.

         In general, from 2014 to 2021, there was an increase in postal air traffic by 31.1%. Vnukovo Airport has the largest increase, amounting to 131.4%. Sheremetyevo Airport is in second place with an increase of 76.6%. At Domodedovo Airport, there was a decrease in postal air traffic by 41.9%. The maximum of postal air traffic was recorded in 2019.

Fig. 8. The share of the airports of the Moscow aviation hub in the transportation of mail (according to the authors' calculations based on the source ^[24]).

From 2014 to 2021, UIA saw changes in the shares of airports in the transportation of mail. Sheremetyevo Airport increased its share from 2014 to 2019 from 37.1% to 58.1%. From 2019 to 2020, Sheremetyevo's share decreased from 58.1% to 46.9%. The share of Sheremetyevo Airport from 2014 to 2021 increased from 37.1% to 50%. The growth of Sheremetyevo Airport is associated with the development of infrastructure.

         Domodedovo Airport's share decreased from 46.1% to 20.4% from 2014 to 2021. The reason for the decline in the share was the lack of significant infrastructure development at Domodedovo Airport.

         From 2014 to 2019, the share of Vnukovo Airport increased and decreased. The share of Vnukovo changed from 11.7% in 2014 to 17.6% in 2018. In 2020, its share rose sharply to 30.6%. In 2021, the share was 29.6%. One of the reasons for the increase in the share of Vnukovo was that the cost of postal services at Vnukovo airport is lower in a number of parameters than in Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo. Because of the pandemic, there was an economic crisis, and the cost of services began to matter more.

         From 2014 to 2021, Sheremetyevo's share in air mail transportation increased. The share of Vnukovo Airport has also grown, especially significantly in 2020. The share of Domodedovo Airport was constantly decreasing. In postal air transportation in 2020 and 2021, the share of Vnukovo has become greater than the share of Domodedovo.

Fig. 9. The structure of air mail transportation through the Moscow Aviation Hub, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency ^[24].

There have also been multidirectional changes in the structure of air mail transportation by destinations. From 2014 to 2016, the Moscow Aviation hub was dominated by domestic air mail. In 2015, international postal air transportation decreased by 18.4%, and domestic air transportation decreased by 14.6%. From 2015 to 2019, international air transportation showed an increase of 138.6%. In 2017, international air mail transportation began to prevail over domestic. Domestic air transportation of mail increased from 2015 to 2017, in 2018 they decreased, in 2019 they showed an increase. From 2015 to 2019, domestic air mail traffic increased. The increase was 50.9%.

         In 2020, there was a drop in air mail traffic. International air mail transportation decreased by 31.3%, domestic decreased by 16.8%. International postal air transportation decreased more than domestic, as some foreign countries were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Logistics chains between Russia and foreign countries have been disrupted more. In 2020, domestic postal air transportation prevailed over international, although not significantly.

         In 2021, there was an increase in international air mail transportation. The increase amounted to 21.2%. Domestic air mail transportation decreased, as in 2020, but less by 0.3%. In 2021, international mail air transportation again prevailed over domestic.

         As a result, from 2014 to 2021, international air mail traffic increased by 62.2%. The peak of international postal air traffic occurred in 2019 and amounted to 46,158 tons ^[24]. Domestic air traffic increased by 6.8% from 2014 to 2021, the maximum domestic air mail traffic occurred in 2019 and amounted to 39,073 tons.

         The share of UIA in the total volume of postal air transportation from 2014 to 2018 increased from 50.2 to 52.6% ^{[13; 24]}.

Conclusion From 2014 to 2021, passenger traffic at the Moscow Aviation Hub decreased.

There was a decrease in passenger traffic in 2015 due to sanctions imposed on Russia and the closure of flights to Egypt and Ukraine. A sharp decline occurred in 2020, which was caused by the closure of borders and strict anti-epidemic measures in the world and in Russia. In 2021, there was an increase, but the indicators could not reach the volumes of 2014.

         The share of Sheremetyevo Airport increased until 2019, while the share of Domodedovo Airport decreased. In 2020 and 2021, the share of Sheremetyevo decreased, and the share of Domodedovo increased. The share of Vnukovo Airport grew from 2014 to 2020, decreased slightly in 2021. The main reason for the growth of the share of Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo was the development of infrastructure in them. There was no significant infrastructure development in Domodedovo.

         International air traffic decreased from 2014 to 2021, until 2019 there was an increase with small drops, caused by sanctions against Russia and the closure of flights to Egypt and Ukraine. In 2020, there was a sharp drop in international traffic due to COVID-19.

Domestic air traffic grew steadily from 2014 to 2021, reaching its peak in 2021. In 2020, there was a significant decrease due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

International air transportation of passengers prevailed over domestic ones only in 2014. Since 2015, domestic passenger air transportation has prevailed over international. Since 2020, the share of domestic air traffic has increased dramatically over international due to border closures and strict anti-epidemic measures related to COVID-19.  

         Air cargo transportation has grown over the selected period of time and reached its maximum in 2021. The main decreases in cargo turnover from 2014 to 2021 occurred in 2015 and 2020. In 2015, the main reason was economic sanctions against Russia, which included an embargo on a number of goods. The decrease in cargo turnover in 2020 is associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in disruption of logistics chains. Unlike passenger air transportation, cargo air transportation recovered quickly. The reason for this was that there are not so many restrictions on air cargo related to COVID-19, and people began to order more goods over the Internet due to the pandemic.

         The share of Sheremetyevo Airport in cargo transportation grew and reached 74.3% in 2021. The share of Vnukovo Airport remained at the same level. The share of Domodedovo Airport was declining. The reason for the growth of the share of Sheremetyevo Airport was the development of its cargo infrastructure.

         International air cargo traffic increased from 2014 to 2021. There was a decrease in cargo turnover in 2015 due to sanctions against Russia and in 2020 due to disruption of logistics chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for the growth of international air travel was the increase in online orders associated with the development of online commerce.

Domestic air transportation from 2014 to 2021 has not changed much, showing a small increase. For the entire period, international air cargo transportation prevailed over domestic with an increase in the share of international over domestic.

          The volume of air mail from 2014 to 2021 increased, the maximum reached in 2019. The growth of air mail transportation is associated with an increase in online orders, since some of the goods are sent by mail.

The share of Sheremetyevo Airport steadily grew until 2019, in 2020 and 2021 the share decreased. The share of Vnukovo Airport increased from 2014 to 2020, decreasing slightly in 2021. The share of Vnukovo Airport rose strongly in 2020, due to lower prices for mail service. The share of Domodedovo Airport has been decreasing all the time and by 2020 it became less than the share of Vnukovo Airport.

         International air mail traffic increased from 2014 to 2021, the maximum air mail traffic occurred in 2019. In 2015, there was a slight drop due to sanctions against Russia. In 2020, there was a decent decline associated with the disruption of logistics chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, international postal air transportation showed an increase, but did not reach the maximum in 2019.

         Domestic postal air transportation did not show such an increase as international from 2014 to 2021. It is worth noting that since 2017, international air transportation has prevailed over domestic, except for a slight predominance of domestic over international in 2020.

         At the same time, when analyzing the development of the Moscow aviation hub, it should be noted that there is another fairly large airport in the Moscow region – Zhukovsky Airport (Ramenskoye), located in the city of Zhukovsky, Moscow region, 36 km from the center of Moscow. The airport uses the runway of the M. Gromov Flight Research Institute and is capable of receiving any type of aircraft.

         Flights from Zhukovsky have been operated since 2016, the main destinations are the capitals and major cities of the former USSR countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, etc.), flights to China, as well as to some Russian cities. Passenger traffic is still relatively small – about a million passengers a year, but the potential of this airport is much higher. Cargo and mail transportation are carried out ^[4]. However, officially Zhukovsky is removed from the list of airports of the Moscow aviation hub.

         This solution should be considered rather artificial. Undoubtedly, Zhukovsky Airport is a natural component of the structure of the Moscow aviation hub by its territorial location, by the purposes of passenger arrivals and cargo transportation. Its prospective development is able to influence the structure of passenger traffic and cargo flows of the Moscow aviation hub as a whole, may affect the change in specialization of Moscow airports in the medium term.

         It is believed that the decision on the separate status of Zhukovsky will be able to attract those airlines that would like to fly to Moscow, but do not have commercial rights to do so. However, practice shows that the current status is not too attractive for airlines, and the development of Zhukovsky is not going at the planned pace. The formal exclusion of Zhukovsky Airport from the Moscow aviation hub also actually leads to a distortion of the statistical analysis of the existing potential of the aviation capabilities of the capital center and their use.

       =The prospects for the development of air transportation of the Moscow Aviation Hub should be considered in the context of the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030 with a forecast for the period up to 2035, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation by Order of November 27, 2021 ^[22] taking into account new socio-economic and geopolitical realities, the impact of which is still subject to comprehension. It seems that in the future, Zhukovsky Airport near Moscow should become part of the airports of the Moscow aviation hub with its specific role of providing transport flows with neighboring countries and transit air traffic, bypassing Moscow.