Flight Safety - Russland

IATA CEO says Russia's flight safety below global average

A flight accident occurs once in nearly 275,000 flights in Russia and CIS countries while the global average is one per 500,000 flights, Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday, citing International Air Transport Association (IATA) CEO Tony Tyler.

A flight accident occurs once in nearly 275,000 flights in Russia and CIS countries while the global average is one per 500,000 flights, Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday, citing International Air Transport Association (IATA) CEO Tony Tyler.

Tyler said that the largest Russian airlines Aeroflot, Yakutia Airlines, Nordavia, Siberia, Urals Airlines, Transaero, UTAir and VIM-Avia underwent an audit under IATA's IOSA standards and saw no serious incidents in 2012, but there is no uniformity of standards across the country's air transportation industry.

"A Russian passenger barely wants to think on which airline's plane he or she is boarding, all air carriers must equally guarantee safety," he said.

Tyler said that African Union countries introduced compulsory certification of their airlines under IOSA standards which would be a good example to copy for Russia.

According to the IATA official, Russian airlines lack investments and trained pilots. Permission for foreign pilots to operate on Russian companies' aircraft is just a temporary tool to cover the deficit.

He also said that local airports must upgrade their equipment because old equipment is potentially dangerous.