RUSSIA'S NEWLY appointed transport minister, Nikolai Tsakh, plans to announce the formation of a new Federal Aviation Service by the end of this month.
The body is being created to help improve state control of civil aviation and co-ordinate its development. Air-traffic-control agency Rosaeronavigatsia will be incorporated as part of the organisation, which is also expected to include the operations of the Department of Air Transport. It is not clear how the Federal Aviation Service will interface with MAK, the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee.
The first two Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-204 twinjets to undergo post-certification modifications have been re-delivered to the carrier. Meanwhile, the first Rolls-Royce RB.211-535E4-powered Tu-204-200 has been rolled off the production line at Kazan.
Source: Flight International
