Russian airports reject subsidy plan for Armenian airlines

Two Russian airports have revised their price policies, rejecting a request to offer any subsidies to Armenian airlines.

It comes after Taron Avia filed a complaint with the anti-trust commission (State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition) several months ago, expressing discontent with the selective price policies pursued by the airports in Russia.

The company complained particularly that the Russian airports treat Armenian air carriers as foreign air transportation services (despite the fact that both Armenia and Russia are EAEU member states), applying higher prices to them compared to the domestic airlines.

As another problematic issue, the company cited the tariff plans imposed by the Federal Air Transport Agency, which offers air navigation services. While the agency charges $95.2 from foreign companies per 100 kilometers of flight, the price for Russian airlines turns out threefold cheaper, i.e. - $ 35/100km, the Commission says in a press release, citing the company's complaint.

The Commission finds that unequal conditions for the airlines operating across the EEU region is "in conflict with the principles and rules of sound competition". It claims that such an approach enables Russian airlines to gain a considerable advantage over the air carriers in Armenia.

Under the existing conditions, the flights to Russian cities - selected as target destinations for Taron Avia - become highly uncompetitive, requiring additional costs (which potentially affect also the prices of air tickets), says the Commission, adding that the issue was long discussed with the EAEU partners in an effort to reach a speedy and comprehensive solution.

A special timetable has been drawn up to identify the existing problems and revise the selective price policies to apply the uniformity principle to all the EEU member states. Additionally, practical steps have been simultaneously undertaken, with two airports in Russia having already revised their prices to rule out any selective approach to Armenia.

According to the Commission, both domestic and foreign airlines carrying out flights from and to Armenia benefit from air services on equal terms, offering equal competition opportunities for virtually all the countries' airlines.