MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) cannot stop Boeing-737 aircraft operation by Russian air carriers, press service of the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said on Thursday.

"IAC cannot stop operation of this aircraft in Russia airlines by its decision to revoke the certificate for Boeing-737. Only a specifically empowered federal executive authority can introduce the prohibition on flights of a certain aircraft type. It has not made such a decision," the press service said.

President of the Russian Association of Air Transport Operators Vladimir Tasun told TASS the decision to suspend Boeing-737 flights can be taken by aviation authorities and not by the Interstate Aviation Committee but this will hardly take place.

"Airlines will be bound to stop flights of Boeing-737 only after receiving the official letter from Russia aviation authorities. IAC, though it suspended the certificate, is not formally related to them. Boeing-737 aircraft are in the Irish and the Bermudian registers; the Russian state is not responsible for them from the standpoint of maintaining airworthiness. It is not a simple matter to stop over 200 aircraft," Tasun said.

Boeing-737 aircraft are not in the Russian register and the suspension of IAC certificate will not affect further operations of aircraft by Russian aircraft, he added.

It was reported earlier IAC said in the letter it suspended the certificate for all Boeing-737 aircraft in Russia until further notice by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration on the aircraft airworthiness. IAC letter signed by the Air Register Chairman Vladimir Bespalov says Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency was in correspondence with the relevant US authority concerning urgent improvements of Boeing-737 aircraft rudder control system.

IAC supports transfer of all aircraft operated in Russia to the Russian state register. "We draw attention to the fact that over 95% of all foreign aircraft operating in the Russian Federation and performing over 85% [including PAO Aeroflot - Russian Airlines] of the total volume of passenger traffic are registered and stay in registers of foreign countries [Ireland, Bermudas, Aruba]," IAC said earlier.

A321 aircraft of Kogalymavia airline crashed in Egypt on October 31 was registered in Ireland.

IAC founded in 1991 is the collective authority of eleven Former Soviet Union republics with authority to regulate the air space use. The committee deals with certification of aircraft and investigation of air accidents.