Sochi Airport has requested an “open skies” regime for three years – Kommersant

Sochi Airport asked to be granted an “open skies” regime for three years, implying the removal of a number of restrictions in intergovernmental agreements on air transportation. The request was voiced by the general director of Aerodinamika (owns and manages the airport) Alexey Starostin in a letter to the Ministry of Transport at the end of 2023, reports RBC. The ministry called the initiative premature.

Mr. Starostin complained that the incoming foreign tourist flow to Sochi remains “extremely low.” According to him, the launch of new routes by foreign carriers is hampered by intercountry agreements. They usually specify restrictions on the number of airlines and flights that can be operated to third countries. The introduction of the fifth degree of “freedom of air” allows carriers to fly between two foreign countries if the flight begins or ends in the country of registration of the airline.

“Airlines from the Middle East and CIS countries are interested in opening flights to Sochi, but with the lifting of restrictions on the fifth freedom of airspace and using Sochi as a transit point,” says the general director of Aerodinamika. Among the countries whose carriers are invited to “open the skies” in Sochi, he named Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Alexey Starostin assured that the issue had been worked out with leading Russian airlines, and, according to him, there were no disagreements. However, an Aeroflot representative said that the company “categorically objects to providing additional benefits to foreign airlines on those routes where Russian carriers operate flights or are interested in operating them.”

A representative of Aerodynamics confirmed to RBC that the appeal had been sent to the Ministry of Transport. The press service of the ministry called the initiative premature and stated that the implementation of the “open skies” regime in Sochi “could negatively affect the transport accessibility of this direction for Russian citizens.”

RBC notes that the “open skies” regime was already in effect in Sochi – in 2014-2016.

Due to the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the operation of the airports of Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol and Elista was suspended. “Vedomosti” wrote, that subsidies to airports closed due to military operations were reduced threefold. In the south, Sochi Airport continues to operate. In 2023, Sochi served more than 13.9 million passengers. In particular, in the first half of the year he increased passenger traffic increased by 25.6% compared to the same period last year, to almost 5.9 million people.

Laura Keffer