Jetalliance East’s operating license suspended
Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has temporally suspended the license of Jetalliance East which operates two Cessna aircraft and two Yak 42s in Russia.
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Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has temporally suspended the license of Jetalliance East which operates two Cessna aircraft and two Yak 42s in Russia.
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Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has temporally suspended the license of Jetalliance East which operates two Cessna aircraft and two Yak 42s in Russia.
Jetalliance East launched western aircraft operations in November 2010 with a new Citation CJ3 and Citation Sovereign at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Rosaviatsia has been reviewing smaller airlines following the crash of Yak 42 in September which killed 43 people, including members of one of Russia’s leading ice hockey teams.
Jetalliance East is one of three operators whose permits have been suspended. The agency has completely removed licenses from three airlines including Yak-Service the operator of the aircraft that crashed.
Because one of Jetalliance East’s Yak 42s is undergoing maintenance, the business jet operator is unable to meet a requirement that airlines must have a minimum of three aircraft and must be able to replace all types with aircraft in their fleet.
“We are in the process of transforming from the old Aeroflot Plus Russian fleet and so do not have a replacement for the Yak 42 at the moment,” says Igor Chunikhin, CEO of JetAlliance East. “We resubmitted our application on September 22 stating that we would use the Yak 42 with less seating to support the Cessna’s and we are waiting for our license to be resubmitted.”
Austrian operator Jetalliance acquired 49% of Aeroflot Plus, Aeroflot’s business aircraft subsidiary in 2010 and renamed it Jealliance East. Aeroflot retained 49% with an individual holding the other 2%. Chunikhin says that they are looking to add a Bombardier Learjet to the fleet later this year.
Russia’s 1997 Aviation Code, its main aviation legislation, does not distinguish between business aviation and commercial aviation. This means that business jet operators like JetAlliance are treated as airlines by regulators.
“Unfortunately there is no separate legislation so we need to follow rules designed for airlines,” says Chunikhin. “However, we should be flying again soon.”
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