Published: 3/27/1998

There appears to be stabilisation in the Russian civil aviation industry. All this really means is that the rate of decline has slowed down, as the table shows. Some of the largest falls were seen in the use of special aviation, Flight hours in this sector declined by 10.6%. Financially the situation continues to remain tight. Expenses continue to be several times higher than the revenues. The problem of mutual non-payment has also become more acute. There are 315 air companies in Russia now. The national civil fleet comprises 7,833 aircraft, with 1,803 airliners, 782 freighters and 2,273 helicopters, the remainder being for domestic routes or special usage. New generation aircraft of Russian production comprise a little more than 1%. The industry has 756 airports, including 63 with federal status, 13 repair factories and more than 239 air-technical bases. Gennady Zaitsev, Head of the FAS, says that the main task for the FAS, in 1998, is to stop further the decline of the volume of civil aviation and to consolidate the gains in safety.(VZ) (IN398.2)  

Article ID: 115