The governor of the Tomsk region asked the government to soften the requirements for small airports in order to restore air traffic

The governor of the Tomsk region, Sergei Zhvachkin, appealed to the Russian Ministry of Transport and the federal government with a request to soften the new requirements for small airports. He considers them practically impracticable for most landing sites, informs press service of the regional government.

Zhvachkin reacted to the suspension from October 5 of SILA flights on the intraregional routes Tomsk – Kargasok – Novy Vasyugan and Tomsk – Kedrovy. Entered into force decree governments have tightened transport security requirements for small airports.

“The new requirements are nearly impossible for most small landing site operators. This is a real problem for such huge territories as ours, – said the governor. – The new requirements are excessive for small villages in the deep taiga, and this is not only a Tomsk problem. The issue of transport accessibility of people is no less important than its safety, a compromise is needed. “

The official asked the federal authorities to postpone the entry into force of the new requirements and introduce a differentiated approach in them, taking into account the intensity of flights and the type of landing site.

In the Tomsk Region, the Republic of Altai and Transbaikalia, flights to small airports on local routes have been suspended. Transportation in these directions was carried out by Siberian Light Aviation (SiLA) and its subdivision Aeroservice. The reason for the suspension is that small airports are unable to comply with the new safety requirements that came into force in October. explained RBC is the main owner of the air carrier Andrey Bogdanov.

According to the new rules, small airports had to install special fences with alarms in a year, organize access control and video surveillance, install communication systems, alert systems, collect and process information, provide the site with the Internet, recruit staff for control, inspection and security, and organize round-the-clock patrolling and inspection of the runway. The corresponding government decree was adopted in October 2020.

Modernization of one landing site in accordance with the new requirements costs 13-50 million rubles (depending on the transport accessibility of the territory), follows from the estimates of airlines and local authorities.

The Ministry of Transport said that over the past year, only 165 out of 2.2 thousand landing sites have fulfilled all the necessary conditions.

The general director of the Gorno-Altai airport, Sergei Kruglov, said that residents of remote areas “extremely negatively” reacted to the ban on flights. According to him, there is snow and ice on the passes, so they are often closed for road transport. “SilA” flew three times a week from Gorno-Altaysk to remote and remote settlements – the villages of Kosh-Agach and Ust-Koksa.

In Transbaikalia, Aeroservice stopped flights to eight settlements. Three of them – Yumurchen, Krasny Yar and Ust-Karenga – have no alternative transport links. Flights were carried out in them twice a month.