newstodate.aero
Nov 25, 2011 (n3ewstodate): January 1, 2012 will see the end of a prolonged struggle between the EU and Russia as EU carriers will at long last be exempted from paying excessive charges for flight through Sibirian airspace.
The mechanism, now to be finally abolished, has been for EU carriers to enter into bilateral agreements with Aeroflot to obtain rights to use the trans-polar and Siberian flight routes.
The charges, estimated to be around USD500 mio annually, have been collected by Aeroflot that retains some USD300 mio, returning the remainder to Russia's Federal Air Navigation Authority and the Federal Air Traffic Agency.
After the cut-over date, all bilateral agreements with Russian carriers, notably Aeroflot, will be transparent and reflecting only purely commercial and operational issues.
The sudden thaw in the long-overdue process is caused by Russia's successful exploitation of the issue in its struggle to obtain access to WTO, which is now agreed upon by all parties.
The mechanism, now to be finally abolished, has been for EU carriers to enter into bilateral agreements with Aeroflot to obtain rights to use the trans-polar and Siberian flight routes.
The charges, estimated to be around USD500 mio annually, have been collected by Aeroflot that retains some USD300 mio, returning the remainder to Russia's Federal Air Navigation Authority and the Federal Air Traffic Agency.
After the cut-over date, all bilateral agreements with Russian carriers, notably Aeroflot, will be transparent and reflecting only purely commercial and operational issues.
The sudden thaw in the long-overdue process is caused by Russia's successful exploitation of the issue in its struggle to obtain access to WTO, which is now agreed upon by all parties.