Syria is needed like air – Newspaper Kommersant No. 233 (7434) of 12/15/2022
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According to Kommersant, several airlines flying to Egypt asked the Federal Air Transport Agency to lift the ban on flights through Syria, introduced almost a decade ago. The airspace of this country was needed by carriers with aircraft in double registration, when, following Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Jordan refused to let their ships in. NordWind, Icarus and iFly faced difficulties. If they leave the route, some experts fear a rise in prices for flights to Egypt. Others object that it is too early to talk about a capacity shortage given the availability of alternatives.
Several airlines have applied to the Federal Air Transport Agency with a request to allow them to fly to Egypt via Syria, sources in the industry, including those close to the Ministry of Transport, told Kommersant. The need for this arose after Turkey, and then Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Yemen, effectively blocked the air corridor for dual-registration aircraft.
NordWind, its affiliate Icarus, and iFly faced this problem: the planes in their fleet still retain Bermuda and Ireland registrations (see Kommersant on December 9). Interlocutors at the two companies allege that the ban is related to the demand from Jordan and Saudi Arabia to provide a foreign A++ insurance certificate. But Kommersant’s sources in the insurance market object that the restrictions were imposed due to double registration. “Debermudised” Aeroflot, Azur Air, Red Wings, as well as SSJ 100s of Rossiya and Azimuth, originally registered in the Russian Federation, continue to fly to Egypt via Turkey.
Without naming the company, a Kommersant source close to the Ministry of Transport said that carriers cut off from Egypt are asking to open a route less than 300 km long over Syria. The Federal Air Transport Agency banned the use of the airspace of this country in April 2013, after information appeared in the media about the threat of rocket attack on the NordWind aircraft en route from Egypt to Kazan. According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, the Federal Air Transport Agency asked the Foreign Ministry about the possibility of lifting restrictions, where “we received confirmation that the foreign ministry does not mind.” In this case, the issue requires coordination with the Ministry of Defense. In the Federal Air Transport Agency, Kommersant did not respond, Kommersant sent inquiries to the Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Ministry.
If an agreement on flights through the territory of Syria, Turkey or Saudi Arabia fails, then the carriers experiencing problems will actually have no alternative routes, Dmitry Gorin, vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, believes. He admits that capacity cuts could lead to “adjustment in airfare prices”. However, other interlocutors of Kommersant note that, given the remaining Russian players and several Egyptian carriers, this should not happen.
Egypt is one of the most popular destinations for organized travelers in the autumn-winter season. According to the FSB border service, in January-September, Russians made 609.9 thousand trips to the country. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) notes that they were mainly tourist destinations, and Egypt is in third place among outbound destinations. According to Dmitry Gorin, now Egypt ranks third or fourth in terms of sales dynamics of organized tours. But OnlineTur.ru representative Igor Blinov points out that the country leads in terms of the number of bookings.
Flights to Egypt via Jordan were used by many major tour operators. The clients of Tez Tour and Fun & Sun, in particular, travel to Egypt on iFly planes. Tez Tour explained to Kommersant that iFly notified the company of negotiations with the Jordanian aviation authorities in order to lift restrictions, while the carrier is looking for an alternative route to operate flights to Egypt. On December 14, according to a company representative, flights to Egypt were carried out according to the schedule, in particular, over the territory of Jordan. At the time of publication, iFly flights for December 15 have not been cancelled.
Kommersant’s interlocutor in the tourism market believes that in total, 2-3 thousand people a day could travel to Egypt on NordWind, Icarus and iFly flights. In the event that flights of the latter are stopped, approximately 3,000 travelers will face difficulties with returning, in his opinion. “Tour operators will take them out, but at the moment this will create tension – there are no seats on the next flights, you will have to extend your stay at the hotel and deal with the logistics of customers,” says the interlocutor of Kommersant.
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