Russia warns of more airline bankruptcies amid economic crisis

Russia warned that more airline companies could go bankrupt like Transaero, the nation's second-largest carrier that was forced out of business in October. "Airlines are accumulating losses, and we do not rule out the risk of airlines going bankrupt if demand does not pick up and traffic does not grow as a result," deputy transportation minister Valery Okulov told lawmakers Feb 25. Rosaviation, the Russian air transport agency, reported that overall passenger traffic in January fell by 6% to 5.54m from a year ago. Of the total, it said international passenger traffic plunged by 26% to just over 2m, while the number of passengers on domestic routes rose by 11% to 3.5m. The figures show the dramatic effect of Russia's economic crisis on air travel and foreign vacations. <br/>