Access to Scandinavia is restored as funding options are considered (200 words)

Published: 5/10/2001

State-owned Archangelsk Air Routes (AVL) that, since 1st April 2001, has been prohibited from flying to destinations in Scandinavia, after the imposition of the regulations relating to the fitting of anti collision equipment, has had its access restored until 30th September, despite having 15 months to comply with the original deadline. The Barents/Euroarctic Region Council has established a working group aimed at helping AVL to obtain the required anti-collision equipment and is considering subsidies and other ways of providing financing. An unspecified sum for the equipment will come from the budgets of the Archangel and Murmansk regions, but the total requirement of $1.2m for the airline's four An-24s and two Tu-134s, used on the Scandinavian routes, looks an unlikely target. It is made all the more difficult by the value of the aircraft relative to the equipment. According to Vladimir Korotyayev, General Director of AVL, the cost of equipping each aircraft is $200,000; whereas the current value of one AVL's An-24 is only $60,000. In 2000, AVL made 221 flights from Murmansk airport, carrying 3,992 passengers to Tromse (Norway), Rovaniemi (Finland), and Lulea (Sweden).

Article ID: 2523