AZUR Air has stopped issuing tickets for departures after March 19 due to a ban issued by the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya): the agency has limited the validity of the air operator's certificate for Russia's largest charter airline until March 20. This decision was made following an inspection. which the agency conducted in December 2017, when “inconsistencies and deficiencies related to maintaining the airworthiness of aircraft and the organization of flight operations” were identified in the air carrier’s operations.
On Thursday, Rostourism called on tour operators and agencies to stop selling tour packages that include travel on Azur Air flights after March 19, as well as tickets for its flights after that date.
Everything is going as usual.
Despite the current situation with AZUR Air, the travel market remains calm. "No one in our network is experiencing any problems; everything is proceeding as normal. There's no panic among tourists; we warn them that a plane change is possible, and they say everything is fine. This happens sometimes, and everyone's gotten used to it. And besides, the tour operator guarantees its obligations in any case," said Pavel Lyshchenko, CEO of the Cruise Travel travel agency chain.
Sergey Agafonov, CEO of the Last-Minute Travel Deals Network, also confirmed to Interfax-Tourism that the situation with AZUR Air has not affected sales at this time. "Perhaps something will change after the February holidays, but for now, everything is calm," he noted.
At the same time, Olga Ivanova, PR director of the company "Hot Tours," reported that travel agencies are currently being cautious and trying not to book too far in advance. "Last year's crisis with VIM-Avia has had an impact: companies don't want to let their tourists down, because even if they receive compensation, if they have to wait at the airport, their vacation will be ruined," she noted.
However, according to O. Ivanova, travelers have nothing to worry about, as tour operator Anex Tour, which primarily flies AZUR Air, is ready to provide a replacement carrier. "Anex Tour is already transferring clients to other airlines; they won't abandon their tourists," she said.
The press service of tour operator Anex Tour reported that the company has launched an operational process to replace AZUR Air flights with alternative carriers as part of its tour packages.
"Since this process takes time, the preliminary inclusion of an airline in the tour product for long-distance departures may be designated as a 'charter flight,' without specifying the airline's name. However, the tour operator undertakes to ensure that its tourists are provided with all services included in the tour product, regardless of who was supposed to provide or was providing these services," Anex Tour reported.
The company emphasized that all previously booked tours departing after March 19 will be rebooked through an alternative carrier at no additional cost and under the most flexible terms for partners and tourists.
What's happening with AZUR Air?
As explained by the press service of AZUR air, on February 14, an application was submitted to the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) to lift the restrictions on the validity period of the air operator's certificate, accompanied by a package of documents certifying the elimination of the discrepancies identified by the agency.
AZUR Air called the Rostourism statement, in which the agency calls on travel agencies to stop selling tour packages that include travel on the airline's flights, "information that only creates social tension, destabilizes the tourism community, creates a nervous environment for passengers currently using the airline's services, and harms the operations of a stable airline."
The company noted that no tickets have been issued since March 19. "Furthermore, actual ticket issuance for charter flights occurs no earlier than 14 days before departure and no less than three days before. Therefore, tickets could theoretically only be issued no earlier than March 6," AZUR Air emphasized.
According to the company, AZUR Air currently operates approximately 301,330 charter flights in Russia across 40 regions, from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Kaliningrad. "We expect Rosaviatsiya to quickly lift restrictions on the validity of our air operator certificates and stabilize the charter market amid growing demand for flights and a shortage of capacity," the carrier's press service concluded.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru