newstodate.aero

Apr 08, 2020 (newstodate): Norway's Minister of Transport has responded positively to an appeal from the industry to seek temporary Russian consent to operate freighter flights through the Sibir air corridor.
   The Ministry understands the industry's concern and its difficult situation as well as the importance of the country's seafood exports, and has pledged to see the Department following up closely on the situation.
   Behind the appeal was the Norwegian Seafood Organization representing some 120 seafood businesses.
   -The issue of Russian overflight rights is a political issue, so we will have to wait and see if our appeal may produce concrete results, says Kjetil Hestad, Director Norwegian Seafood Organization.
   -In the meantime, we are very satisfied with the strong partnership with Avinor working tirelessly together with the Norwegian CAA to find solutions to our needs for capacity, as evinced by the recent freighter service from Oslo to Tokyo. It was a one-off operation - but everything is indeed one-off in today's situation!
   -A major challenge for our industry is rising air rates. An increase by 30 NOK in the rate per kilo makes it extremely difficult to achieve profitable logistic solutions for exporters. But - we do ship seafood by air every day; the Asian, especially the Chinese, market is rising again, and we appreciate the efforts by Avinor and CAA to support our industry.
   -A temporary permit to operate freighters via the Russian Trans-Siberian air corridors would facilitate less costly and faster air logistics, and we can now only wait to see if our appeal may contribute to fresh negotiations between Norway and Russia, says Mr Hestad.