Airports entered the impassable mode

As it became known to Kommersant, increased security measures at Moscow airports created difficulties for airlines with aircraft maintenance. According to Kommersant’s sources, the access of equipment suppliers and even regulatory authorities to closed areas is now difficult. The airports themselves are also experiencing difficulties, but they note that so far both they and the carriers have been able to adapt to the regime. Nevertheless, on the eve of the high summer season, they fear point failures in the schedule, logistics and maintenance of the fleet: the Association of Air Transport Operators (AEVT) warned the Ministry of Transport about such risks.

According to Kommersant, the airports of the Moscow Aviation Hub (MAU) and the airlines based in them are experiencing difficulties with aircraft suppliers and maintenance due to the third level of security introduced on November 10, 2022. Based on the results of the vulnerability assessment at airports, a significant part of the aprons, checkpoints and aviation technical bases of airlines (ATB) fell into the transportation sector of transport security – a closed part where access was prohibited with one-time passes.

The AEVT notified the Ministry of Transport about the risks back in November. “The ban on the admission of persons with one-time passes leads to the impossibility of delivering aircraft spare parts, components, test equipment to aviation technical bases for the relevant work,” the letter of November 17 (Kommersant has it) says. In addition, employees of the Federal Air Transport Agency and Rostransnadzor, who do not have permanent passes, experienced access problems. The AEVT emphasized that in the case of a prolonged third-level regime, UIA may experience “critical difficulties in the production of aircraft maintenance” up to a “large-scale stoppage of traffic”. In a response letter dated November 23, the Ministry of Transport informed the AEVT that the industry’s proposal to issue one-time passes would require lengthy approvals, and advised issuing permanent passes.

A large-scale failure, according to Kommersant’s sources, can be avoided “by the joint efforts of airports, carriers and contractors.” But the situation remains tense and could worsen in the summer with increased traffic. Some of Kommersant’s sources are afraid of a repeat of the autumn situation, when the logistics of deliveries of on-board equipment, equipment and consumables for maintenance suffered due to the lack of one-time passes for cars.

The operational activities of airlines require admission to the transportation sector of “employees of different companies in different formats: someone comes once.” Not everyone can get a permanent pass, explains one of the interlocutors of Kommersant, the lack of one-time passes causes inconvenience, complicates logistics and delays some types of work. It takes an average of three to four weeks for a law enforcement check to issue a permanent pass, according to several sources.

Another company clarified that they were able to adapt to the new conditions, but it is still difficult for them to organize access to the platform for employees of regulatory authorities. They clarified that it was possible to resolve the issue with the help of urgent passes (unlike a one-time pass, it is valid for several days), “but it would be more convenient for everyone to return to their usual mode of operation.” “If it is not possible to issue a permanent pass to the supplier’s car, the property will be reloaded to a car with a permanent pass outside the airport,” a large company said. Sources of Kommersant at airports noted that they also experience difficulties in coordinating new customers and one-time suppliers.

The press services of Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo did not respond to Kommersant. The head of the AEVT, Vladimir Tasun, declined to comment officially. Kommersant sent inquiries to the Aeroflot group, S7, Ural Airlines, Azur Air, Smartavia and other carriers based in Moscow.

According to the General Director of the Airport Association, Viktor Gorbachev, the way out of the situation could be to allow people with one-time passes to travel accompanied by full-time employees of the airport aviation security. Such a practice, according to him, is common at many airports in the world and will not require significant costs from UIA specialists. It’s not worth counting on concessions from the Ministry of Transport and law enforcement until the restrictions are completely lifted, says Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of the avia.ru portal: “No one will take such responsibility.” But the expert does not expect serious failures and service problems and considers the fears exaggerated.

Aigul Abdullina