An attempt of deception on the part of the aviation structures of the Russian Federation has been prevented

According to the Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) under the Ministry of High Technologies, Communications and Transport of Azerbaijan, the allegations in the press that the Russian airline “Ural Airlines” was not granted permission  for the Moscow-Baku flight "without explanation", are untrue and "misleading". Asking the question from the Turan agency about the reason for the non-departure of the plane to Baku from Moscow's “Zhukovsky” airport, the CAA replied: On January 23, 2024, “Ural Airlines” received a request for a flight to Baku from the “Zhukovsky” airport.  The CAA did not give a response ("neither positive nor negative"), the request is being considered. 

The CAA also reported that the sale of tickets for the flight Baku (Heydar Aliyev airport) - Moscow (Zhukovsky airport) was carried out without permission from Azerbaijan and the aviation structures of the Russian Federation.  “Ural Airlines” is aware of the rules and deadlines for responding to a request for flights to Azerbaijan, as they received permission a month ago to fly to Baku from Yekaterinburg, and agreed on the procedure for issuing advance permission for flights from Samara (slot). 

CAA points out the unfounded claims of the press about the issuance of a permit for flights to Baku from “Zhukovsky” airport and the inconvenience of passengers due to Baku's fault from the fact that they could not fly to Azerbaijan.

Earlier, “Ural Airlines” issued a message that "the flight was not performed  because the aviation authorities of Azerbaijan did not issue permits for this, despite the fact that “Ural Airlines” has an appointment, as well as all the technical capabilities to perform and ensure the flight. "The reason for this decision was not specified by the Azerbaijani aviation authorities. There are no reasons for refusal, since “Ural Airlines” is a designated carrier that has all the rights and has no restrictions for transportation. The airline operates flights to Baku from Yekaterinburg," the message says.

Other information from the Russian media reported that the first flight to Baku was scheduled to take place on February 8. According to the “Baza” telegram channel, because the plane did not take off from Moscow, passengers could not fly back from Baku to the Russian capital for more than a day. It was postponed indefinitely without explanation, the airline did not explain the situation, the channel writes. The hotline advised passengers to make a refund of tickets.

Flights from “Zhukovsky” airport to Baku were suspended by “Ural Airlines” until February 17, the press service of the Federal Air Transport Agency (“Rosaviation”) reported on February 9. The airline adds that negotiations with Baku are continuing.

While collecting information about this incident, Turan discovered other cases of non-issuance of permits to “Ural Airlines” for passenger flights from Moscow's “Zhukovsky” Airport to the capitals of several countries. In previous years, disagreements between the aviation authorities of the Russian Federation and foreign countries arose due to the status of “Zhukovsky” region. Despite its close location to Moscow, the Russian Federation classifies it as a regional airport, which gives the right not to limit the number of carriers and international flights (unlike the airports of the Moscow air hub – “Sheremetyevo”, “Domodedovo” and “Vnukovo”, where such a restriction applies). At various times, the authorities of Georgia, France, Tajikistan, Israel and Italy disagreed with this, insisting on parity conditions for flights through “Zhukovsky” airport. Several times, disputes have reached the point of partially restricting air traffic between the countries.

Retired civil aviation pilot Fazil Mammadov explained to Turan that flights between countries should be equal, that is, the number of flights between countries should be the same. This means that if (for example, the numbers are arbitrary - Ed.) Russian airlines wish to fly to Azerbaijan 45 times a month, then they must allow the same number of flights of our companies to the Russian Federation.

"Another thing is that we do not have the opportunity to make the same number of flights, but we have the opportunity to fly to Russia 30 times a month. Then a contract is signed, and the Russian airline pays AZAL a part of the profits from the non-parity 15 flights."

Fazil Mammadov admits that the West wants to minimize our country's relations with Russia and can, through such structures as the international aviation organization ICAO, "recommend" limiting communication. The reason for the ban on flights from “Zhukovsky” airport may be that it was a military port relatively recently, and therefore may not have received international certification, which was the reason not to allow arrivals from this airport.

"Since Azerbaijan has a good civil aviation infrastructure today, owns a large number of passenger planes, and even more cargo planes, and we fly all over the world, therefore we are dependent on other countries that can "twist our hands" by banning us from flying to Russia. The richer we are, the more dependent we are," the expert added.

The Russian specialized press discusses the possibility of deliberate assignment of flights from “Zhukovsky” airport by the state aviation structure of the Russian Federation, since this port has a regional rather than international status, which allows bypassing the principle of parity, which other Russian international airports fall under.