Ukrainian authorities have introduced tighter safety rules for airlines in a move which could make up to 60 Soviet-built aircraft inoperable.
A decree, issued by the state aviation administration, requires operators to use only aircraft fitted with modern navigation and safety equipment.
This should comprise systems providing for early ground proximity warning, terrain awareness, traffic alert and collision avoidance as well as distress signal emitters.
The decree will enter force on 1 April and is expected to affect all aircraft built in the Soviet era and lacking the required equipment.
Overall, the country’s second-tier carriers operate 50-to-60 Soviet-built Antonov, Yakovlev and Tupolev models, which would fall under a blanket ban.
“This will effectively put almost of them out of business,” predicts Lugansk Air owner Vladimir Risoukhin, who estimates that the cost of equipping an aircraft with the required safety navigation kit averages $350,000-$400,000.
“We operate five Antonov An-24s and need to spend around $2 million on their modernisation,” he says. “For a great many airlines this kind of a one-off expense is simply unaffordable.”
Source: flightglobal.com sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: FlightGlobal.com
