New rules proposed by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) that only allow carriers with a minimum of 20 aircraft of the same type to run scheduled services, threatens the existence of up to a hundred small Russian airlines.
Only about 15 airlines in Russia are in a position to comply with this requirement. Rosaviatsia wants the remaining firms to be downgraded to charter operator status or cease flying.
The Russian agency is under investigation from authorities over an alleged license scam involving Continent Airline, a small Russian operator, which suspended flights and applied for bankruptcy last week over multi-million ruble debts.
“The criminal probe will identify Rosaviatsia officials and other government agencies and give a legal evaluation of their actions in the issuance and revocation of the airline’s license,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Rosaviatsia cancelled the airline’s operation license on Friday at the request of the airline’s general director, Vladimir Krasilnikov, who claimed that the company had no money to fuel its jets.
The agency is said to have known about the airline’s financial difficulties but took no action as the regulator could revoke the company’s operating license only if it had arrears to the Pension Fund or its staff, say local media reports.