Siberian air transport timekeeping continues to be poor in October

Published: 12/28/1999

Siberia is still struggling with punctuality problems according to statistics from the Siberian Information Agency. During October only 57% of the 429 flights recorded were on time. For the foreign traveller the delays were even higher with 67% of flights late an average of 1.4 hours. For the inter regional flights 30% of flights were delayed, but for an average of 2.7 hours, which is good when compared with the intra regional flights of which 45% were late with an average delay of 4.3 hours. Despite this obviously trying air travel situation the number of passengers travelling increased by 110% over October 1998, to 49,900 passengers. The cause of the delays is not covered by the information agency, but fuel shortages have been a major problem in the latter part of the year in Siberia and the Far East, with the smaller intra regional airlines suffering the disproportionately from shortages.

Article ID: 1249