Translated material
Unflying behavior
Rosaviatsia leaves charters of airlines that delay flights on the ground
Following the results of the summer air transportation season, the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) punished Russian companies that delayed the largest number of charter flights. The agency cut their charter programs announced for the winter of 2007-2008. The company VIM-avia was declared the main violator , and it was also subjected to the most severe sanctions. At yesterday's press conference, the head of Rosaviation, Evgeny Bachurin, promised to henceforth hold not only air carriers accountable for flight delays, but also the airports where they are based. Rosaviatsia has already issued an order to Domodedovo “to bring the airfield equipment into compliance with the declared carrying capacity.”On another occasion, a very serious measure will most likely be applied to Orenburg Airlines (OrenAir) in the near future. Mr Bachurin said the company would likely be banned from flying to Europe due to its failure to comply with safety standards. The only question is who will make this decision: the aviation authorities of the European Union (EU) or Rosaviatsia.
“In general, we flew well,” Mr. Bachurin said yesterday, presenting to journalists the aviation results of the summer tourist season. According to him, of the 23,592 charter flights operated by Russian airlines in the summer and fall, only 968 (about 4%) took off with a serious delay (according to the Rosaviatsia classification, this means three hours or more). However, some airlines were less able to adhere to schedules than others. The top three violators included Krasair (8% of charters delayed), VIM-Avia and OrenAir (6% each). In absolute numbers, VIM-avia turned out to be the worst violator. Passengers on more than 200 of its charter flights spent three extra hours or more at airports.
Rosaviatsiya decided to fight for regularity in the coming winter season by cutting off applications for new charter programs from air carriers that had made mistakes. The logic here is as follows: flight delays indicate, first of all, that the company does not have a sufficient number of reserve aircraft. So, let them fly less, but keep more aircraft in reserve just in case. Mr. Bachurin said that the winter programs announced by the violators have been reduced by 15-25% (this figure fluctuates from month to month). “The (air charter ) market is growing by 10-15% per year,” he said. “Therefore, reducing charter applications by approximately the same amount is a serious limitation.”
As an example, he cited data on VIM-avia. In particular, as of January 2008, this company asked to be allowed 324 charter flights, but Rosaviatsia agreed to only 250. In January of this year, VIM-Avia had 321 charter flights. General Director of VIM-Avia Yuri Tarshin told Interfax last night: “We only received the agreed schedule until March 29, so we have not yet calculated how much the charter program will be reduced compared to last season. The new schedule completely preserves the geography of flights, reducing the number of flights operated ".
And Krasair spokeswoman Yulia Bagrysheva told Reuters that her airline had not yet received any documents regarding the planned restrictions, adding that the share of charters in the company's schedule was small.
Referring to the massive delays in flights thatoccurred at the Moscow airport during heavy fog on October 27-28 , the head of Rosaviatsiya said: “This is not only the fault of air carriers, but also of airports. We will take action at airports." The first target for the application of such measures, which are still relatively mild, was the largest airport in Russia - Domodedovo. “On October 30, he was given an order to bring the airfield equipment into compliance with the declared capacity for the winter season. We noted a clear discrepancy between one and the other,” said Mr. Bachurin.
The story continues to develop about the claims of EU aviation authorities regarding the compliance with flight safety standards by some Russian airlines. Mr. Bachurin said that those airlines whose flights to Europe were restricted by Rosaviatsiya and Rostransnadzor in June, after consultations with the EU (see Vremya Novostei, June 29) , are being corrected. “Restrictions on them will be lifted or greatly reduced,” he promised. But, according to him, EU inspectors had so many questions for OrenAir that this company risks being blacklisted by the European Union. According to the results of inspections, it found itself in the global top five of the worst violators of EU standards among foreign air carriers. “On November 6 in Brussels we will have consultations with the EU on Orenburg Airlines,” said Mr. Bachurin, making it clear that the company has few options: at best, Rosaviatsiya will prohibit it from flying to Europe, at worst - the Europeans themselves. The second case is more difficult because then it will be necessary to seek the lifting of sanctions not at home, but in European authorities. In addition, a precedent will be created: after all, until now, not a single Russian airline has been included in the EU blacklist approved by the European Commission.
For OrenAir, this statement by the head of Rosaviation came as an unpleasant surprise. The airline's first deputy general director, Denis Cheurin, admitted to Vremya Novostey yesterday that European safety inspectors indeed had criticism of his company. However, he maintained that all these remarks were duly withdrawn. Mr. Cheurin, according to him, learned about the threat of losing OrenAir’s right to fly to Europe yesterday from news agency reports from a press conference at Rosaviation.