Untraveled ladders – Newspaper Kommersant No. 60 (7505) dated 04/07/2023

As Kommersant found out, the airports complained to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Transport that they could not issue electronic passports and obtain license plates for their special equipment. Without this, according to the rules, they cannot operate at airfields, for example, new apron buses, anti-icing equipment or self-propelled ladders. Now these machines are no longer defined in the law: they are not recognized either as special equipment or vehicles. Airports fear prolonged downtime for equipment critical to flight safety.

As it became known to Kommersant, the International Association of Airports (IAA) appealed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Transport with a complaint about the inability to register and legally operate their airport special equipment, which “endangers the normal functioning” of airports. We are talking about low-floor apron buses, self-propelled passenger ladders, anti-icing machines, self-propelled platform loaders and other equipment. The IAA confirmed sending the letter, but refrained from commenting. Kommersant sent requests to the airports of Moscow and other major cities.

Since 2015, according to the decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), they must be issued with “passports for self-propelled vehicles and other types of equipment.” Without a passport, a car cannot be registered with the Gostekhnadzor and issue a license plate. If the passport is not issued, the law “On transport security” prohibits the operation of such equipment. As sources at airports told Kommersant, registration denials began after the transition to electronic passports for vehicles (EPTS) and self-propelled vehicles (EPSM) from November 1, 2022. Airports are faced with the fact that the state registration rules recorded in 297-FZ “On self-propelled vehicles and other types of equipment” do not apply to airport special equipment. The IAA asks for amendments to 297-FZ, including a detailed definition of the types of airport special equipment, and extending the existing procedure for issuing passports to it.

The presence of uncertainty in the issue of obtaining EPSM and registration of special airport equipment is also confirmed by its suppliers. The Infrastructure Project Group of Companies noted, “based on information from the end operators”, “the delivery of previously contracted vehicles is complicated by the lack of EPSM for equipment.” Another importing company clarified that they also accumulate equipment that they cannot transfer to customers without passports, but for a number of regional airports this issue is unprincipled: “Supervisory authorities turn a blind eye to the registration of equipment if it does not leave the airfield.”

The interlocutors of Kommersant at three major airports specified that in their case, the regulatory authorities require mandatory registration, they need numbers to issue passes when moving equipment.

“In addition, if we want to sell the equipment later, we won’t be able to do this, as well as formalize the fact of an accident for an insurance company without OSAGO,” one of the sources explained to Kommersant. In some cases, hangars for maintenance or temporary storage of self-propelled special equipment are located outside the airfields, and transfers also require obtaining numbers. Thus, all airfield equipment of the Krasnoyarsk airport received state registration and passports, since it leaves the controlled zone and moves along public roads, Stanislav Yelykomov, technical director of the airport, specified. At another airport, they said that so far they are content with the equipment purchased before the new laws, but a company that deals with refueling has faced a problem.

Several Kommersant sources are concerned that with the increase in passenger traffic in the summer, the situation may become critical.

“Technique will not be enough: you will have to drive without numbers, risking to run into checks, since flight safety is more important,” one of them explains. Another notes that, among other things, self-propelled air launchers for engines, ambulifts for passengers with limited mobility, tractors for towing aircraft should be registered. “It’s cheaper to immediately close the airport than to pay a fine for every exit without numbers,” he argues.

The best way out would be to return to the standards that were in force before the decisions of the EEC, Viktor Gorbachev, General Director of the Aeroport Association, believes: about numbers is redundant.

Vehicles and self-propelled equipment with any type of engine with a power of more than 4 kW, according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, are a source of increased danger, and therefore are subject to accounting, says Boris Ionov, an official representative of Electronic Passport JSC (part of Rostec, draws up EPTS) . But only a certificate or other conformity assessment document can confirm the safety requirements – and already on its basis, you can get an EPTS and then register it with Gostekhnadzor. But airport equipment, according to 297-FZ, is not subject to registration, and EPTS is issued only for equipment subject to registration (in accordance with EEC decision No. 122).

“Now any airport can buy a tractor or a loader with a registered EPTS from any plant, but if this tractor is classified as a special airfield equipment, then Gostekhnadzor should not register it, this is a paradox,” notes Mr. Ionov, adding that the issue requires studies of relevant departments. At the same time, if the airport industry initiates amendments to the law, it is important to carefully consider the list of registered equipment: if those airports that currently do not register special equipment are required to register it, their transport tax costs may increase significantly, Mr. Ionov added.

Aigul Abdullina