Airlines will be fined for refusing to fly on subsidized routes

The Ministry of Transport is dissatisfied with the operation of airlines for air transportation subsidizing programs: they do not perform the declared flights. In the Federal Air Transport Agency, they do not agree with such an opinion: only three companies refused to participate in the program, and fly 18. But the Ministry of Transport still intends to tighten the rules and from the next year to fine the carriers who have left the program.

According to the Deputy Minister of Transport Valery Okulov, who is quoted by Prime , the airlines announced their participation, "concluded contracts, but did not start flying." The volume of applications for carriers exceeded 20 billion rubles, although the state allocated only 3.5 billion for the program, which, according to Valery Okulov, spoke about the "demand for the project."

But as a result, officials were faced with a “conservative” approach of companies: they increased the loading of aircraft, and not the flight frequency or a route network. Okulov explained the situation with the "irresponsible attitude of airlines."

According to Kommersant , three airlines refused to participate in the program - Tulpar Air, Paul and CJSC Avia Management Group (works under the Dexter brand). The subsidized routes on which these carriers were put on were not revealed in the Federal Air Transport Agency.

Independent aviation expert Andrei Kramarenko explains the output of DEXTER and “flight” from the project with a difficult financial situation. Participating in such programs, it is difficult to predict the revenue in advance - as a result, the expert says, the carrier changes plans so as not to work at a loss.