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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 2570.PDF
CIS AIRLINES For many years the name "Aero flot" denoted not only the Soviet national airline, but the entire field of Soviet civil-aviation activ ity — airline operations, air traffic control (ATC) and Government regulatory agen cies. Even military transport and other aircraft, for example those belonging to the aerospace industry used for corporate transport, were also in Aeroflot colours. This is no longer the case. Now Aero flot — Russian International Airlines — resembles what is normally considered an airline in the West. Its inventory has dropped from several thousand machines to just 103 operational aircraft, according to the latest Aeroflot report to the Interna tional Air Transport Association. These include 27 llyushin Il-62Ms; 19 Il-86s and 19 Il-76s; 23 Tupolev Tu- 154Mls; four Tu-154Bs; three Tu-154Cs and eight Tu-134s. Aeroflot also operates five Airbus Industrie A310-300s on lease. Domestic flights in Russia and the rest of the CIS are operated mostly by former regional Aeroflot directorates, which have now become independent operators. These include Aerovolga, Baikalavia, BAL - Bashkir Airlines, Komiavia, Krasnoyarsk Airlines, Magadan Airlines, Moscow Air ways, Sibavia, Tatarstan Airlines, Tran- saero, Uzbekistan Airlines and others. This, however, creates specific problems. New operators inheriting the power of the regional representatives of the former civil-aviation ministry are responsible for all civil-aviation infrastructure in a partic ular region. This includes airports, air traffic control, and service and mainte nance centres. These branches of commer cial aviation are now going through a painful process of working together and establishing themselves in the new free- market environment. Even the relationship with Government civil-aviation bodies needs to be clarified. Shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, the Inter-State Aviation Committee (MAK) was formed to succeed the Soviet civil-aviation ministry. Now there are regulatory civil-aviation bodies in each of the former Soviet republics. ALL CHANGE AT AEROFLOT The Russian airline industry has undergone massive change with Aeroflot now an operational airline in its own right. Alexander Velovich reports on what this means to the country and the problems it creates. Photographs by Sergey Sergey ev. In Russia, this is the Department of Air Transport (DAT) of the Ministry of Trans port (MOT). The DAT is envious of MAK's activities in Russia and is gradually as suming responsibility for more and more functions. The Air Register, however, which provides the registration and cer tification of all civil aircraft in Russia and the CIS, is still a part of the MAK committee. According to Yevgeniy Kononov, a DAT official, there are about 200 regis tered enterprises in Russia, providing commercial flights, some of them oper ating just one, or a small number of, aircraft. These include not only former regional Aeroflot direc torates, but also public and private opera tors starting from scratch, many of them leasing perhaps two aircraft to operate occasional charter flights. The DAT is anxious that it is losing control over "wild" operators, which fre quently neglect safety regulations. To • rectify the situation, new regulations for licensing air-transport operations in Rus- Moscow Airways has U-62s ...and so does Air Ukraine, with an ambiguous identity sia have been put into effect from 1 October. Introduced by a Government decree, the new order requires licences for passenger and cargo flights, airport activi ties and special flights, for example, spray ing agricultural chemicals. Russia's transport ministry is responsi ble for issuing the li cences, which are valid for up to five years. Now the DAT promises to be more cautious in allowing commercial air-trans port operations. A permanent DAT com mission will issue permission for partic ular routes to be flown. If there is more than one contender, the winner will be chosen after considera tion of "qualification of flightcrews and ground personnel, the quality of services offered, availability of jet fuel and spares in-operator's storage, and the level of ticket tariffs". The DAT plans to link issuing of licences for profitable international routes, such as those permitted by the recent US-Russian bilateral agreement on air transport, with the obligation to continue flights on non-profitable routes which are socially necessary for the Russian regions. Kononov predicts that small airlines will have to unite, forming more powerful operators, capable of meeting the tougher demands of the DAT. All operators are obliged "...to provide data at the request of the MoT on licensed activities". The MoT can cancel a valid licence "...if an operator fails to provide the requested data in an approved time". There is cpncern, however, that the Gov ernment Order does not provide safe guards against bureaucratic abuses or neglect, and many independent operators fear that the new regulations might serve as an instrument to provide privileges to FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20 - 26 October. 1993 47
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