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- Go beyond the flag: the Russian authorities intend to challenge the negative status of civil aviation
Go beyond the flag: the Russian authorities intend to challenge the negative status of civil aviation
The Russian authorities have decided to remove the ICAO "red flag" from the country's civil aviation. The status of "serious concern" was assigned to Russia by the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2022 — it indicates significant safety problems in aviation, in particular, due to the double registration of our aircraft. The Federal Air Transport Agency has now submitted documents that indicate that the decision was politicized, and they will be sent to the ICAO. Letters are also being prepared to the aviation authorities of friendly countries.
Why is the ICAO interested in Russia
Rosaviatsia is trying to remove the negative status of "Significant Safety Concern" (SSC) from the civil aviation of the Russian Federation, issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2022. The reason was the double registration of aircraft.
The Agency has prepared proposals to enter into a dialogue with an international organization on this issue. In addition, in 2024, analytical materials were submitted to the Ministry of Transport, indicating the political aspect of the status assignment, which does not comply with accepted ICAO standards, according to the materials of the federal agency, which were reviewed by Izvestia.
"Airplanes should have only one state registration, however, due to well—known events, double registration has appeared in Russia," explained Andrey Patrakov, the founder of the RunAvia flight safety service, aviation expert. — Most of the civil aircraft in the Russian Federation were leased and registered in Bermuda. Due to the sanctions, Bermuda's aviation authorities revoked the certificates of airworthiness and demanded that the airliners be returned. Our authorities had to re-register the planes in Russia in violation of the ICAO Convention. Rosaviation began to control their airworthiness.
As a result of the audit in the summer of 2022, the ICAO demanded to eliminate the double registration, but having failed, it assigned a "red flag" to Russian civil aviation in September. The resolution of the ICAO Council noted that Russia had violated articles 18, 19, 29 and 31 of the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation in connection with the dual registration of aircraft and their operation without valid certificates of airworthiness.
— The decision to establish a "red flag" was highly politicized. In addition, it was based on the position of double registration of a significant part of the mainline aircraft of Russian airlines," Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviport agency, told Izvestia.
At the same time, the SSC status does not impose restrictions on the state and only informs its partners about existing problems in the industry. According to the ICAO, the Kingdom of Bhutan, Congo, Liberia, Ecuador and Zimbabwe have "red flags".
— Meanwhile, on the basis of the "red flag", any state can refuse to fly aircraft registered in the Russian Federation in its airspace, — Andrey Patrakov explained.
As stated in the materials of the Federal Air Transport Agency, since 2022, the federal agency has been working to change the status of the SSC. Significant progress was achieved on September 27, 2024, at the sixth ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. A number of states friendly to Russia have signed a political declaration criticizing restrictions affecting civil aviation flights, according to the documents of the Federal Air Transport Agency. In addition to Russia, the group includes Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran, China, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, Palestine, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea.
Rosaviation has prepared draft letters on the SSC status, which, after approval by the Russian Ministry of Transport, can be sent to friendly states supporting the Russian Federation. In addition, consideration of the SSC status has been initiated with the DPRK Aviation Administration, the document says.
It also says that at the same time, work is underway to exclude aircraft from foreign registries. According to Izvestia, by the end of 2024, 345 Russian aircraft got rid of double registration, and 216 of them were purchased for domestic airlines, according to the materials of the Federal Air Transport Agency. This will allow them to fly abroad.
The re-registration was achieved through interaction with foreign lessors and air transport administrations, according to the materials of the Federal Air Transport Agency. However, about 300 airliners in Russia still remain with dual registration.
— Registration by itself does not affect flight safety. There is no increase in the number of accidents involving aircraft with "double registration" in Russian civil aviation," Oleg Panteleev noted.
In addition, according to Rosaviation materials on the state of flight safety in Russia in 2023 and 2024, the relative number of accidents per 1 million scheduled flights to Russia with commercial aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of more than 5,700 kg was 1.27 in 2024, which is even lower than the average for ICAO member states — 1.87. Today, this indicator is the most representative in world aviation.
Izvestia sent requests to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ICAO and major airlines.
What will removing the "red flag" give Russia?
By itself, the "red flag" has little effect on the state of civil aviation. This is a politicized decision, and there is some pressure on partners who interact with Russia, Fyodor Borisov, an expert at the Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia. But the sanctions pressure imposed on the industry has a noticeable impact. Therefore, the work on lifting the status is a foundation for the future, which will become important after the possible easing of sanctions, the expert noted.
"Removing the red flag will at least reduce the cost of insurance for aircraft, crews, passengers, and so on," Andrei Patrakov added. — There will be grounds for reducing the assessment of flight safety risks. This will reduce the cost of flights in Russian airspace for all airlines, including foreign ones. Ultimately, this will indirectly affect the prices of air tickets or increase the profitability of carriers.
Also, the removal of the "red flag" from Russian civil aviation will affect the decisions of the ICAO member aviation authorities on air traffic to the Russian Federation, as well as the decisions of airlines that have restricted their flights precisely for security reasons, the expert believes.
There is no reason to expect significant progress in relations with ICAO officials until the foreign policy tensions are resolved, Oleg Panteleev noted. At the same time, the process is underway, and we see that a large number of aircraft have already been de-registered from the Bermuda registry, he said.
To uncheck the box, you need to at least eliminate the formal reason — the double registration of all aircraft. And the so-called debermudization of our aircraft fleet has not yet been completed, Andrei Patrakov added.
As Sergey Melnichenko, Director General of the Flight Safety Advisory and analytical agency, noted, among the sanctions imposed on Russia, the first were measures against civil aviation. Therefore, according to him, it can be cautiously assumed that their possible withdrawal will also begin with her. European and North American airlines are also interested in this, as they are forced to fly around Russia and spend a couple of hours more on a flight due to the closure of Russian airspace.
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