MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. Head of Russia’s State Duma International Affairs Committee Alexey Pushkov has suggested reducing the number of air carriers in Russia to just three. In his opinion, this will allow to increase the level of safety.
"This is an area where the government should intervene," the parliamentarian told the Russian News Service.
According to Pushkov, these could be both private companies and those created with state participation.
"I noticed that the disasters of the past 50 years are associated, as a rule, with the medium-size companies. These are small companies owning from 5 to 10 aircraft rented for charter flights. The companies derived maximum profits with minimal costs, "Pushkov said, adding that Kogalymavia owned less than 10 airliners.
On Saturday morning, Kogalymavia airline’s Flight 9268 carrying Russian tourists home on board an Airbus A321 aircraft crashed 30 minutes after taking off. The plane wreckage was spotted in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, some 100 kilometers south of the city of El-Arish.
There were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, most of them were Russian nationals. According to Egypt’s officials, no one survived.