Russia closes its airspace

RosBusinessConsulting Database
October 1, 2004 Friday

Russian has closed its airspace for aircraft of the Kazakhstan Aue
Zholy airline, the press service of the Kazakhstani company reported.

According to the Russian Transportation Ministry, this ban will be
first of all applied to airlines of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and
Ukraine. On September 3, 2004, the main center of Russia for planning
and controlling air traffic officially informed aviation authorities
of CIS members that if they did not pay off their debt to the center,
Russia would stop providing air navigation service starting October 1.

The total debt of CIS airlines to the Russian center for planning and
controlling air traffic exceeds $15m. Kazakhstan Aue Zholy has the
largest debt totaling $3.5m.