Civil aviation safety in Russia: the state of compliance

Abstract

Considering that civil aviation safety is one of the most important elements in all aviation-related activities, this thesis presents the state of compliance of aviation safety in the Russian Federation. In the former Soviet Union, the authorities made sure that the rest of the world knew that its territory was impenetrable. In the 1980s, their attack on the civilian flight KE 007 of the Korean Airlines, which lead to the crash of the aircraft and the death of innocent civilian passengers, demonstrated that when it came to guarding their territory, they showed little concern for the lives of innocent civilians. The first chapter focuses on how the Russian Federation managed the necessary transition from the Soviet-era system to a modernized aviation system with the objective of ensuring aviation safety. The second chapter presents the development of the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme since the 1990s and details the compliance of Russian air law with international standards and recommended practices related to aviation safety. The last chapter highlights the necessity for the European Union and Russia to have working arrangements to conduct safety assessments of foreign aircraft to ensure aviation safety. This chapter also highlights the advantages of concluding comprehensive air transport agreements between them to harmonize their aviation relations and to solve pending issues, such as improving market opportunities for both sides, compliance with Community law by including an EU Community carrier clauses in bilateral agreements with Russia, and implementation of a phase-out of trans-Siberian overflight payments.

Considering that civil aviation safety is one of the most important elements in all aviation-related activities, this thesis presents the state of compliance of aviation safety in the Russian Federation. In the former Soviet Union, the authorities made sure that the rest of the world knew that its territory was impenetrable. In the 1980s, their attack on the civilian flight KE 007 of the Korean Airlines, which lead to the crash of the aircraft and the death of innocent civilian passengers, demonstrated that when it came to guarding their territory, they showed little concern for the lives of innocent civilians. The first chapter focuses on how the Russian Federation managed the necessary transition from the Soviet-era system to a modernized aviation system with the objective of ensuring aviation safety. The second chapter presents the development of the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme since the 1990s and details the compliance of Russian air law with international standards and recommended practices related to aviation safety. The last chapter highlights the necessity for the European Union and Russia to have working arrangements to conduct safety assessments of foreign aircraft to ensure aviation safety. This chapter also highlights the advantages of concluding comprehensive air transport agreements between them to harmonize their aviation relations and to solve pending issues, such as improving market opportunities for both sides, compliance with Community law by including an EU Community carrier clauses in bilateral agreements with Russia, and implementation of a phase-out of trans-Siberian overflight payments.