Russia and the United States can remain without direct flights - ForumDaily
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Russia and the United States can be left without direct flights

New US sanctions due to the Skripal poisoning may affect the largest Russian airline Aeroflot. In fact, this means that by the beginning of winter, Russia and the United States may be left without direct air service for the first time in the last 30 years. What will this mean for the company itself and for passengers?

Фото: Depositphotos

The US State Department announced on the evening of August 8 that Washington is preparing new sanctions against Russia in connection with the Skripal case.

As part of the first wave of measures that come into force on August 22, the United States will ban the issuance of licenses for the export to Russia of goods related to national security.

The second wave of sanctions suggests the possibility of depriving the right to land in the US aircraft of any airline that is controlled by the Russian government.

Aeroflot fits this description - it is 51,2% owned by the state, another 3,5% is controlled by the state corporation Rostec. It is the only one that flies directly from Russia to the USA.

This will happen if Russia, three months after the introduction of the first wave of sanctions, does not provide a guarantee that it will no longer produce and use chemical weapons.

Against the backdrop of news about possible sanctions after the opening of the Moscow Exchange, Aeroflot was among the leaders in the fall. For some time, the airline's share price dropped to the level of early 2008, although by the end of the day the company's shares partially recovered the fall.

Profitable or not?

Aeroflot declined to comment. Flights to the USA are a profitable direction for this company, notes the head of the AviaPort analytical service, Oleg Panteleev.

In March, Kommersant, citing its sources, reported that against the background of increasing demand last year, Aeroflot was planning to increase the volume of traffic on American routes by the summer.

But in the end, the sales of round-trip air tickets from Russia to the USA in the first 7 months, 2018 dropped by almost a quarter compared to the same period last year, show data from the Biletix service.

Фото: Depositphotos

“Only Aeroflot can be competitive in this market.” It has sufficient transportation capacity and a powerful sales network, including in the States. This allowed him to consistently squeeze out American carriers from the Russian route, because Aeroflot was more competitive,” notes Panteleev.

In March, 2018, for example, the American company Delta left the direction between Russia and the United States. For American carriers, home flights are more profitable than flights across the ocean to Russia, the expert notes.

Как «aeroflot«used to affect politics?

  • In March 2018, an Aeroflot plane that flew from Moscow to London was searched by British customs. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the company itself stated that the British authorities did not give a reason for the search and carried out the search without releasing the ship's commander from the cockpit. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the inspection a provocation that was required by the British authorities to “save their reputation, which was completely undermined in connection with the Skripal case.”
  • In 2014, Aeroflot’s low-cost subsidiary Dobrolet, after 2 months of operation, fell under EU sanctions due to flights to Crimea. Contractors, including the German Lufthansa Technik, refused to work with the company. As a result, Aeroflot liquidated «daughter«. The new low-cost airline received a new name - Pobeda - and a new operator certificate.
  • In 2003, Aeroflot was forced to temporarily change the routes of its flights over Canada and reduce the number of flights to Toronto. The conflict broke out due to the fact that airlineя Air Canadaasked free fly from Toronto to Delhi over Russian territorybut she was refused. As a result, the Government of Canada has established restrictions on aircraft transit flights. «Aeroflot«.
  • In December 1981, Aeroflot was banned from flying in US airspace after the introduction of сSoviet troops in Afghanistan. September 1983-of the year, after thathow Soviet air defense systems shot down Boeing 747 South Korean airline Korean Air Lines, air traffic between Russia and the United States was effectively blocked. Later, the blockade was lifted, but until 1986, Aeroflot representative offices in New York and Washington were closed and contacts between American airlines and Aeroflot were prohibited.

If you still cancel

A senior State Department official told Reuters that Washington's planned sanctions on Russia would not directly affect Aeroflot, but could theoretically cover goods exported by the United States that the Russian airline purchases.

Фото: Depositphotos

Flight bans could be imposed on Aeroflot at the second stage of sanctions if Moscow does not comply with Washington’s conditions, in particular, if it does not allow international inspections.

According to Panteleev, prices for flights to the USA will increase, but not significantly, since the choice of flights with a transfer is very high. According to Biletix, now more than 95% of the air tickets sold in this system in the United States account for flights with transfers. In this case, after the transfer at European airports, Russian passengers most often fly to the United States by flights of foreign airlines.

According to Panteleev, if Aeroflot is de facto banned from flying to the United States, Russia's retaliatory measures could be very harsh - one option could be to revise the agreements under which American carriers use routes over Russian territory.

Difficulties associated with the distribution of “Arctic” routes have arisen before. In May, the US Department of Transportation ordered three Russian airlines to provide information about future flights to the States to verify the flights' compliance with American law. US authorities called this a response to the actions of Russia, which did not provide American cargo carriers with a corridor to cross its airspace.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on August 9 that retaliatory measures would be worked out “based on the actions that the American side will take.”

“There will be measures - we will make decisions based on what American legislators and political lobbyists come up with this time,” Zakharova said. - Everything is very simple. If [the US] comes up with nothing, we won’t do anything; if they come up with something, we’ll respond; if they come up with something extra, we’ll respond in the same spirit. No one has canceled the rules of the game.”

According to Panteleev, Russian aviation authorities in any case will not allow American airlines to replace Aeroflot on direct flights.

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