As of the 29th October, the state aviation holding entity Azarbaijan Hava Yollary
(AZAL) suspended flights made by the Azarbaijani private airline Turan Air on
the routes Baku-Moscow-Baku and Guianja-Moscow-Baku. The reason for the suspension
in flights appears to be persistent complaints about the performance of the
private airline.
According to Azerbaijan's Head of Flight Safety and Supervision, Ilgam Amirov,
reported in the local press, numerous efforts to get Turan Air to operate in
strict accordance with the regulations governing airline's operations in Azerbaijan,
were ignored. "Turan Air does not meet international standards, and therefore
there are no guarantees of flights safety". Amirov said the liberalising of
the aviation market in the country had brought operators into the market who
were unfamiliar with and unable to run an airline business . In the case of
Turan Air, the airline could not provide suitably qualified flying personnel
and has for the last six years hired pilots from AZAL (the airline subsidiary
of Azarbaijan Hava Yollary) The airline also, according to Amirov, also lacked
the critical ground staff responsible for scheduling and maintenance, and unilaterally
"extended airworthiness certificates and life limits on its aircraft" which
AZAL felt merited the suspension of the operator's flights. The operators certificate
granted by AZAL for a two year period remains in place and will be restored
says Amirov, if the carrier rectifies its shortcomings. The moves by AZAL against
Turan follow similar measures taken against Baku Air, Chirag Air and Baku Express,
although they ceased trading after suspension.
One of the motivations for the move against Turan says Amirov, is to facilitate
Azerbaijan's entry into the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), it has
to establish international standards and while a recent visit of ECAC showed
that on the whole aviation in Azerbaijan met international standards, the country's
air code is out of date. In 2001 a new version of the air code will be considered
by the state parliament although Amirov expects Azerbaijan to join the ECAC
in 2000. AZAL has responsibility for the regulation of the air transport sector
in Azerbaijan. At present, there are six airlines in the country: AZAL, the
national flag carrier, AZAL-Agro, Cargo Airlines, AZAL-Helicopter (operating
mainly over the Caspian Sea), Imair and Turan Air.
The efforts to "clean up" the private sector is a reason used by
many of the aviation authorities in Central Asia to limit and control the activities
of the private airlines. Despite poor commercial records on the part of some
of the operators , in the view of some commentators , moves have have been motivated
by the desire of the authorities to retain their predomiant position and reduce
competition in their domestic markets. It is unclear in this case, what the
primary motivation has been, but the comments in the local press suggest that
the airline's observation of regulation may not be the only reason for its suspension.
Transaero AZAL's strategic partner after signing an agreement in May 2000 resolving a long standing dispute between the two parties;is reported to have increased the frequency of its Moscow-Baku route, re-established in July 2000, from 2 flights a week to 4 and is expected to be followed by AZAL using a Boeing 757 early in 2001
