Russian air carriers appealed to the Ministry of Transport due to difficulties with flights to China

The Association of Air Transport Operators (AEVT), which includes 22 Russian airlines, turned to the Ministry of Transport due to problems encountered when operating flights to China. About it informed RBC with reference to a letter from AEVT President Vladimir Tasun to Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev.

Now only “Aeroflot”, from Irkutsk and Khabarovsk to Harbin – IrAero and Aurora, respectively. After the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in China, Russian airlines decided to increase their presence in the Chinese direction, but faced problems due to Western sanctions.

In particular, after the introduction of sanctions, air carriers began to register imported aircraft in Russian jurisdiction, but not all of them managed to remove them from the foreign register, as a result of which many aircraft ended up with double registration. China has not allowed such aircraft into its airspace since May 2022. Now 480 Russian aircraft are still not excluded from the Bermuda registry.

Tasun also noted the problem with flights to China on Russian Superjet aircraft that had not flown there before. What exactly it consists of is not specified. At the same time, air carriers (IrAero and Yakutia) have not encountered such problems and do not see any risks in connection with flights on Superjet.

Among the risks that are noted in the letter is the loss of “historical” slots, time intervals for arrival and departure of flights. “Since we are talking about “historical” slots, it is possible that some Russian carriers have fears of “nullifying” previously agreed permits during peak periods at the initiative of Chinese airports, or their redistribution in favor of competitors (including Russian ones),” the independent air expert Grigory Pomerantsev.

In this regard, Tasun suggested that Savelyev hold face-to-face consultations with the aviation authorities of the two countries with the participation of the Russian Foreign Ministry on March 26 – before the start of the summer flight schedule. Tasun stressed that under the current conditions, the importance of the Chinese direction for the Russian aviation industry has “multiple increased”.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger traffic between China and Russia has almost completely stopped. Air traffic between the two countries resumed in March 2021. At the end of January, the Chinese authorities announced the resumption of tourist trips for organized groups in 20 countries, including Russia, from February 6. On the same day at the Chinese Embassy in Russia reportedthat Russians can already get tourist visas to China.