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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0565.PDF
MIR TRANSPORT PAUL DUFFY/MOSCOW THE ANNUAL REPORT of Russia's Federal Aviation Service (FAS), formerly known as the Air Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport, shows that Russian air traffic continued to decline in 1996, and that financial results were negative. Sources in the FAS say, however, that the figures sub mitted by some regional offices ".. .may not be complete" because of "funding shortages". For 1996, the FAS had originally submitted a budget plan for 170 billion roubles (about S34 million), which included provision for the pur chase of a small number of aircraft for state- owned airlines. After discussion with the transport ministry, however, the budget was reduced to $5.6 million, and was approved at this level by the Russian Government. The amount received was little over $2 million, or just 36% of die approved budget and, in real terms, just 22% of the amount paid in 1994. The sum paid was expected to cover salaries, costs of operation, funding of specified (mainly airport) modernisation programmes, and tech nical audits — the multitude of controls which all aviation regulatory bodies must enforce. The low amount received meant that salaries in die FAS remained low, and many expert staff have left to find better remuneration elsewhere. The report quantifies passenger numbers for 1996 at 26.9 million, compared to 31 million the previous year. These passengers were carried over some 65 billion passenger kilometres (pkm) (71 billion pkm in 1995). Ten million international passengers (7.1 million in 1995) were flown 30 billion pkm (2 3.2 billion in 1995), a figure up by 41%, although domestic numbers were down by almost 30%. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5 - 11 March 1997 Although cargo-tonne kilometres (don) fell by only 2.4%, from 8.5 billion tkm to 8.3 bil lion, aerial work — mainly agricultural spray ing, powerline inspection, mapping and surveying — showed a further massive decline from 2.5 million hours flown in 1995 to just 1.8 million in 1996. Average annual utilisation for die Antonov An-2 has fallen from a 1991 level of 421hto55hinl996. URGENT ACTION NEEDED Agriculture ministry sources state that the 1995 level (of 99h) has cost Russia some 30 million tonnes of grain, and that urgent action is need ed to save agricultural production. Worse, while the overall 1995 figure for earn ings at Russia's state-owned airlines showed a $7.5 million profit, 1996 resulted in losses of about $300 million. Since the break-up of die Soviet Union, Russia has issued operating licences to some 508 air companies. Of diese, 176 have either with drawn from operations or had their licences cancelled or suspended. Many of the official cancellations have resulted from the opera- • ll'iJIWIiai.'M.VHMl Income Wages/Salaries Social Funds Materials Depreciation Overhaul Other Costs Total Costs Result Non Operational Costs Profit/Loss yMk^mm 1995 Billion Roubles 17,048.4 2,778.3 995.6 6,773.5 1,338.8 386.3 4,775.6 17.401.8 353.4 16.0 337.0 19% Billion Roubles 24,413.4 4,302.6 1,565.3 8,011.1 2,716.3 568.3 7.249.8 23,184.1 -1.229.3 270.0 -1500.0 tional audits carried out by die FAS and its regional offices. In 1996, no less than 2,855 such audits were carried out in Russia, and a further 254 were conducted outside die country where operators had foreign bases, eidier temporary or permanent. In 1996, 43 new operating licences were granted, and some 235 of the 332 current licences were renewed. Nine are described as public organisations, 112 are (fully) state- owned, while die remainder are "shareholder societies" (about equal to limited companies). Of the 390 companies which operated in 1996 (including 58 which were withdrawn from operating during the year), 201 had been estab lished from former Aeroflot departments, 24 from aviation-industry ministry departments and factories, and 165 were "new" operators. Some 201 were, or had been, approved to fly abroad, widi 41 of these operating scheduled services. Of these, only 111 operated scheduled services either domestically or internationally (including other CIS states). A substantial drop in the number of opera tional airports has also occurred. While the Soviet Union had almost 3,000 airports or airstrips available for civil aviation, Russia itself was left with about 1,3 80 after 1991. Today, only 845 remain operational (plus 109 grass aero dromes), with 63 of these categorised as being of federal importance, while 52 are available to international operations (against 28 Soviet air ports), plus three more as alternates and a fur ther one for "one-off' flights. In Soviet clays, only Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport met International Civil Aviation Organisation Category II requirements, while ten others were Cat I airports. Today, there are six Cat II airports. Vnukovo and Domodedovo have • 27
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