RF Ministry of Transport wants to introduce sanctions in response to Ukraine’s decision to ban flights by Russian companies above our territory. This was announced by the press secretary of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Natalia Timakova. Earlier Russian Minister of Transport Maksim Sokolov stated that the RF authorities would take mirror measures, if Kyiv closes the air space for Russian companies. It will be reminded that on October 25 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the decision according to the decree of NSDC of September 2, which came into force on September 16.
The ban concerned two biggest Russian airlines, Aeroflot and Transaero. They cannot fly to Ukraine starting with October 25, 2015. The Cabinet of Ministers also forbade transit flights by Russian airlines with goods of military and double purpose.
Who will lose from the “mirror” aviation? Will the sanctions affect the flight cost for passengers? The Day asked former minister of infrastructure Yosyp VINSKY.
“The two companies that suffered from the sanctions are the biggest transporters in Ukrainian aviation market. There will be considerable losses, first and foremost in the airports Boryspil and Zhuliany. But they won’t be critical, so no 30 or 50 percent. I think that the decision on introducing aviation sanctions by the Ukrainian power is a political one, but at the moment it is justified. Of course, there will be losses for us, but Russia will lose even more, because Russian aircraft was mostly flying to Ukraine. Will the passengers be affected? Ukraine has not closed the air space for Russian planes, it has just introduced sanctions for specific companies. It means their place can be taken by other companies, maybe from other countries. It doesn’t mean that the flight costs will increase. Because it is not excluded that the place of the Russian airlines will be taken by low-cost companies, for example, WizzAir. In this case Ukraine has an advantage: we are moving towards the Open Skies Agreement, therefore any company may enter. Nothing supercritical will happen. Having lost control over the Donetsk and Luhansk airports and flights over the Black Sea, our country has suffered considerably bigger losses than Russia. Therefore in this case the political nature of the sanctions on aviation is justified, because Russia is waging a hybrid war against us.”
