Russia is to establish a $2.3 million training centre in Moscow for flight safety and security inspectors, and is immediately increasing the number of safety inspectors employed by the State service for civil aviation (GSGA).
The schemes follow the International Civil Aviation Organisation's safety audit of Russian civil aviation facilities, which began in October 2000.
ICAO's safety audit recommended an increase in the number of flight safety and security inspectors because "the current number does not match the air traffic volumes observed in the country". Earlier this year the Russian government agreed to fund a GSGA boost in inspector numbers from 2,500 to 3,000.
Russia's airline industry has seen the losses of a Tupolev Tu-154M and an Ilyushin Il-86 this year, and a Tu-154M in 2001. Russia will cover part of the cost of the training centre, and the remainder will come from "donor structures using ICAO mechanisms", says ICAO general secretary Costa Pereira.
Source: Flight International