Russia's LCC Dobrolet closes...the first victim of sanctions?

[JanetFlight]

Could this be the beginning of bad times incoming to the Russian Aviation World...?:sad:

Aeroflot subsidiary grounded by European sanctions - FT.com (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f2bbcb6c-1b31-11e4-a633-00144feabdc0.html#axzz39U5opXtX)

Not good news for sure...

[TC_Ukraine]

I hope it is just beginning. Airlines, that ignore NOTAMs should be grounded, at least for safety reasons.

[Denti]

Aeroflot says it is due to the sanctions, however very low loadfactors might have played a rather large part in it as well, rumours are only 20% of available tickets were payed for.

[eastern wiseguy]

Dobrolet Grounded by Broadened EU Sanctions Against Russia :: Routesonline (http://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/243027/dobrolet-grounded-by-broadened-eu-sanctions-against-russia/)

No sign up required here.

[andrasz]

To put things into perspective:

Dobrolet was formed to operate flights into annexed Krimea, pretty much for the same reasons why Lufthansa used a Condor painted 744 to operate into Taipei, or why KLM created KLM Asia for the same purpose: to protect the main airline from potential sanctions (which were already anticipated months ago, nothing to do with MH17)

The reason for the suspension is because the Bermudan (and by implication UK) registered 738-s have been repossessed by the lessor due to Dobrolet being specificly targeted by the EU sanctions. I'm sure they will find a couple of Tu-204s as replacement, Krimea flights are primarily politically motivated, commercial realities will have little to do with it.

[TC_Ukraine]

andrasz, Aeroflot and other major airline Transaero have own flights to Crimea. no sanctions to them...

[Cyrano]

Dobrolet was formed to operate flights into annexed Krimea

No, actually, it wasn't. It was/is Aeroflot's attempt at a low-cost carrier. See this report from October 2013 (http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2013/10/11/1975/).

[Chopper69]

I'm at a loss why all Russian route licenses are not suspended? Instant impact to Russia and I'm sure, the US, Euro, Japanese legacy carriers could use the surplus capacity profitably elsewhere. I'm obviously missing something here and would look forward to more informed comments.

[J.O.]

I'm at a loss why all Russian route licenses are not suspended? Instant impact to Russia and I'm sure, the US, Euro, Japanese legacy carriers could use the surplus capacity profitably elsewhere. I'm obviously missing something here and would look forward to more informed comments.

One word explains why that won't happen.

Energy

[AreOut]

huh, and what happens if Russia suspends its own airspace for western companies? Many flights would suddenly become twice longer...

[DouglasFlyer]

That's exactly what a Russian newspaper is writing about:

ÂÅÄÎÌÎÑÒÈ - Ðîññèÿ ìîæåò çàïðåòèòü òðàíññèáèðñêèå ïåðåëåòû åâðîïåéñêèì àâèàêîìïàíèÿì (http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/31488921/rossiya-gotovitsya-otvetit-na-sankcii)

[andrasz]

No, actually, it wasn't.

I stand corrected.... :O

[highflyer40]

I have seen reports that Russia is considering banning overflights over Russian airspace!

that would make lots of routes to Asia either unviable or unpalatable due to flight times

[porterhouse]

I have seen reports that Russia is considering banning overflights over Russian airspace!

Sure and what do you think would happen then to Russian carriers 'overflying' Europe. :ugh:

[ciderman]

I'm with chopper on this. Boeing and airbus can bring putin to heel more quickly than most other avenues if they were so instructed.

[AreOut]

"Sure and what do you think would happen then to Russian carriers 'overflying' Europe."

they would just go around

[olasek]

they would just go around Except those that land there :yuk:

While I don't think EU would forbid Russian aircraft to land on their territory - they would slap retaliatory 'landing fees' to make up for the 'Siberian detour'.

[hamster3null]

I'm with chopper on this. Boeing and airbus can bring putin to heel more quickly than most other avenues if they were so instructed.

Putin does not give a crap about Boeing, Airbus or international aviation in general. Russia is descending into autarky and Putin is busy hurrying up the process. Do you know that, since April of this year, Russian police officers and other internal security employees are prohibited from traveling abroad? To those interested in beach vacations (previously, Turkey and Egypt were very popular), the official advice is "go to Crimea". Of course, there is no direct land connection between Crimea and mainland Russia, airports are at capacity, existing routes go through Ukraine, which is not cooperative for obvious reasons, there's a plan to build a bridge across Kerch Strait but it will take years and years. There is an automobile ferry across the strait but it's badly backed up, current wait times are on the order of 24 hours. Interesting times...

[despegue]

It is not true that government employees, including security and police officers are forbidden to leave the country.

They have only been given advice that it might he prudent not to as there have been several cases of agression towards Russian tourists abroad, especially in Turkey, by Europeans.

Russian tourists have been given advice to be careful in Turkey and the EU.

[Buster the Bear]

And the sanctions on the USA post Iranair 655 were.........?

[tdracer]

Buster:
Not exactly comparable, given
1) the USA immediately accepted responsibility and admitted they'd F'd up.
2) the USA paid reparations


I'm not holding my breath for either of those to happen with Putin.

[porterhouse]

And the sanctions on the USA post Iranair 655 were.........? You missed the point entirely, sanctions are not because of the MH17, they are because of the alleged Russian military support for the separatists and fueling the conflict.

[hamster3null]

Buster:
Not exactly comparable, given
1) the USA immediately accepted responsibility and admitted they'd F'd up.


The USA did no such thing. Bush Sr. famously remarked in the aftermath of the shootdown that he'd never apologize for America, regardless of circumstances.

[misd-agin]

Shooting down an airliner as a "proper defensive action" is hardly the same thing as admitting they F'd up. And it was like the Bay of Tokin all over again, the statements made by US officials (eg. VP Bush at the UN) didn't agree with facts.




US statement -


I am saddened to report that it appears that in a proper defensive action by the U.S.S. Vincennes this morning in the Persian Gulf an Iranian airliner was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz. This is a terrible human tragedy. Our sympathy and condolences go out to the passengers, crew, and their families. The Defense Department will conduct a full investigation.
We deeply regret any loss of life. The course of the Iranian civilian airliner was such that it was headed directly for the U.S.S. Vincennes, which was at the time engaged with five Iranian Boghammar boats that had attacked our forces. When the aircraft failed to heed repeated warnings, the Vincennes followed standing orders and widely publicized procedures, firing to protect itself against possible attack.
The only U.S. interest in the Persian Gulf is peace, and this tragedy reinforces the need to achieve that goal with all possible speed.






Interesting read on the actions of the US Navy ships during the event -


Naval Science 302: Lesson 20 (http://www.unm.edu/~nrotc/ns304/lesson20.htm)

[olasek]

. The USA did no such thing.
They did admit they shot it down which is huge comparing to Russian actions.

[hamster3null]

They did admit they shot it down which is huge comparing to Russian actions.

I'm not sure if they had a choice, since it happened under the noses of a bunch of Iranian warships and the whole event apparently took place within PSR range of the ATC from which the unfortunate airliner took off. Whereas, in case of MH17, there seems to be no firm radar evidence of involvement of either side (Ukrainians saw nothing, Americans either saw nothing or aren't releasing anything to the public). We have circumstantial evidence pointing towards Russians, but they have plenty of plausible deniability. If Americans do have something that they haven't shared with journalists but will pass to the team conducting the investigation, things may change after the release of the preliminary report.

[paulmoscow]

It is not true that government employees, including security and police officers are forbidden to leave the country.
In fact, they were ordered to surrender their passports to their employers. It's one of the factors why several Russian travel companies got out of business in the last few weeks.