India-Russia air turbulence ends

New Delhi/Mumbai: The uncertainty of Indian carriers using Russian airspace has blown over with the Russian authorities agreeing to maintain status quo of an earlier bilateral civil aviation agreement.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had asked two Russian carriers — Aerflot and Transco Airlines — why they should not be barred from using the Indian airspace as Russia had decided to disallow Indian aircraft from flying over their airspace.
In a communication to the two airlines, the DGCA had sought reasons why Air India and Jet Airways were not being allowed to use the Russian airspace.
DGCA sources said that Russian authorities had communicated to India that it would not allow Indian carriers to over-fly Russian airspace beyond May 15.
“No specific reason was cited for such a move. The matter was also taken up at the diplomatic level by India”, sources added. DGCA made it clear that it would be forced to take action to bar these airlines from using the Indian airspace.
“On Tuesday DGCA has received a communication from Russia that they would not stop Indian carriers from flying over Russia airspace,” sources said.
Air India and Jet Airways officials said that their flights are continuing to fly over Russian airspace and so far no ban has been imposed.
16/05/07 Gaurav Choudhury & Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Foreign May 2007, General Aviation May 2007