A further six European Union (EU) member states are facing infringement proceedings over their air service agreements with Russia, relating to their allowance of Siberian overflight charges.
The European Commission today said it has issued proceedings against Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia.
In January, the EC issued similar proceedings against Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Italy. It said at the time that it was also scrutinising other EU states with their own bilateral agreements with Russia for compliance with European law.
A total of 17 member states have received letters of formal notice from the EC over their agreements with Russia, and four more countries with similar bilateral accords are now being scrutinised.
"The fact that European Union airlines have to pay to fly over Siberia on their way to Asian destinations can not only make flights more expensive, but can also lead to unfair competition between EU and non-EU airlines," says the EC.
It estimates that in 2008, the EU carriers concerned paid around $420 million in charges, "most of it directly to the Russian airline Aeroflot".
Member states will have two months to respond to the letters of formal notice. If they fail to respond satisfactorily, the EC will request that they "amend their bilateral air service agreements with Russia".
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
