Starting November 5, Yakutia Airlines will be unable to operate international flights. Rosaviatsiya has imposed a corresponding restriction on the carrier.
According to a message published on the department’s website, the reason forThe violations identified during inspections are the basis for the refusal to fly abroad. These include false information regarding the compliance with airworthiness directives on the Boeing 737-800 aircraft and its continued operation without maintenance, as well as failure to promptly correct any defects identified on the aircraft.
According to Rosaviatsia, problems with maintaining the airworthiness of aircraft were the cause of the carrier's lengthy and numerous flight delays on international and domestic routes. "Rosaviatsia's interdepartmental working group on international charter flights was forced to curtail the carrier's flight schedule throughout the year. In September, delays reached almost 20%," the agency stated, emphasizing that Rosaviatsia had no longer reviewed Yakutia Airlines' charter program for November 2018. Meanwhile, the company has sold just over 450 tickets for scheduled international flights through next year. Passengers will receive full refunds for these tickets in accordance with established legal procedures.
"As of November 5, the company is prohibited from operating flights on international routes," the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) said in a statement.
As Vladimir Gorbunov, the company's new CEO, noted, the airline's commercial director and head of the transportation department have already been dismissed, and the employment of the deputy general directors and specialists responsible for aircraft maintenance will be terminated in the coming days. He stated that the airline will focus on flights within the Sakha Republic and interregional flights in the Far East, as well as domestic long-haul flights connecting central Russia with Yakutia and some cities in the Far Eastern Federal District.
Yakutia's fleet currently consists of five Boeing 737-800s, six An-24RVs, three DHC-8-311s, and four RRJ-95LR-100s. In the first nine months of 2018, the airline carried 679,905 passengers, a decrease of 21,333 compared to the same period last year. Yakutia currently ranks 18th out of 35 airlines, having carried 99,513 passengers in total during the first nine months.
Source: trn-news.ru