Grozny Avia’s AOC suspended

Grozny Avia has only one aircraft, a YaK-42 jet, left in its fleet (Photo by Leonid Faerberg / Transport-Photo.com)

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency reported it had imposed a restriction on the Air Operator Certificate of Grozny Avia, an airline owned by the government of Chechen Republic in mid-December. The carrier now has time until the end of the summer to re-start operations, since the regulations allow up to 270 days (9 months) to clear the problems and recover the AOC.

Grozny Avia has been experiencing financial constraints lately. It has thus no funds to renew its fleet, which according to FATA consists of just one Soviet-made Yakovlev YaK-42 regional jet. There were plans to replace the aircraft with a more modern type, like Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100) or Antonov An-148. However the airline often voiced complaints that the government wouldn’t offer any support to the operator.

In April last year the carrier asked Russian aviation authorities to impose restrictions on its international flights. At the end of July, after an audit the airline was allowed to continue operations until September 6, 2016. In August the airline’s management team was replaced, and Sergey Belikov was appointed as general director, following which all restrictions were lifted.