MOSCOW, February 4 (Itar-Tass) – The possible removal of the Red Wings aviation carrier from the market may cause a summer deficit of airline services at routes popular with Russians, the Association of Russian Tourism Operators said on Monday commenting on Rosaviatsiya’s decision to suspend the aviation company’s certificate.
The Association said that besides the regular routes Red Wings had a vast chartered flights programme to popular destinations. For example, the company’s Tu-204 made flights to the Czech Republic, to France’s ski resorts, and in summer – to Egypt, Turkey, Spain and Italy. Experts of the tourism market say the absence of the aviation carrier will not affect the winter season, but as for the upcoming summer period, the market will demand the flights, which Red Wings used to operate. “An absence of the fleet of seven planes may not be unnoticed. Despite the checking, some tourism operators relied also on Red Wings in planning summer trips,” a company selling aviation and railway tickets said.
“The decision to suspend the effect of the certificate of the operator is not linked with the reasons, why the airliner Tu-204, which was operated by Red Wings, crashed at the Moscow airport Vnukovo on December 29,” Rosaviatsiya said. The Interstate Aviation Committee continues the investigation in the air crash, he said.
Rosaviatsiya recalled that under the Russian legislation after the air crash at the airport Vnukovo, the agency has conducted an extraordinary inspection over the activities of the air company for the compliance of the requirements to flight and technical operation. “Numerous major violations in the arrangements for the flights, technical maintenance of aircraft, the training of pilots and other systemic flaws in the activities of the air company were found upon the results of the inspection,” the Rosaviatsiya source said.
The incident, which occurred with the airliner Tu-204, which was on the Chelyabinsk-Moscow flight IN112, is among the evidence of these violations. The air incident was caused by the failure of the engine thrust reverser related with the actions of the crew.
“In 2012 Rosaviatsiya has conducted two scheduled inspections, upon the results of which the flaws in the making of air shipments were found as well,” the source said. Meanwhile, “the top management of the closed joint stock company Red Wings did not take proper measures for their elimination that affected in the most negative way the flight safety of its aircraft and poses a direct threat to the life and health of air passengers,” he went on to say.
The agency also noted that “now the closed joint stock company Red Wings has the deficit of financial resources to provide for the current activities and in a quite high third group of risk in financial and economic terms that does not permit to keep up properly the high level of flight safety, which the Russian legislation sets for commercial air companies.”
Rosaviatsia stressed that “passengers of the airlines will get a possibility to use the services of other Russian carriers to fly from the point of arrival to the initial departure place with Red Wings tickets through to March 20, 2013”.
The company itself reports on its official website that all passengers having tickets for flights from 21:00 Moscow time on February 3 through to March 20, 2013 will be carried on planes of Aeroflot and WIM Avia.