John
01-03-2011, 02:37 PM
Russia's much-maligned aviation industry faced new turbulence on Monday after a deadly jet explosion grounded some of its aircraft and the country's busiest airport experienced another shutdown threat.
Emergency workers scrambled to ensure that Russia's main aviation hub avoided a second power outage in a week as they hooked Domodedovo airport to a backup generator that worked despite broader disruptions around Moscow.
The airport's lights and computer screens went out for about 30 minutes on Sunday evening but a Domodedovo spokeswoman told the Interfax news agency that "the airport has and is continuing to operate according to schedule."
She said the dramatic two-day closure that the airport experienced in late December was unlikely to happen again but that a special emergencies ministry unit had been dispatched to Domodedovo just in case.
The true scale of Russia's recent transport problems was underscored over the weekend when a 27-year-old Tupolev jet caught fire on a Siberian runway and exploded moments before it was due to take off for Moscow.
Dramatic footage of the Surgut disaster -- which killed three and sent more than 40 to hospital with burns -- was replayed on television throughout the New Year weekend and prompted a series of emergency meetings in the Kremlin.
President Dmitry Medvedev was forced Sunday to receive one set of officials who were dealing with the Moscow airport disruptions and then another who were probing the Tu-154 runway blast.
Those meetings concluded with a threat of new sanctions facing Russian airlines and a decision to temporarily ground the oldest of the Tupolev jets.
The order affects only 14 of the hundreds of Tu-154 planes that fly post-Soviet skies and the country's transport authorities took pains Monday to assure passengers that the decision would not jeopardise travel.
The planes' "temporary removal from operations will not impact airline performance as a whole," a Federal Transport Oversight Agency spokesman told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
The older B model of the Tu-154 jets was manufactured between 1975 and 1986 and sold throughout South America and Africa as the Soviet Union competed with the United States' Boeing for international airline dominance.
It was not clear how many of these Tupolevs are still used by Moscow's Communist-era trade partners or the former Soviet states.
According to Russia's industry ministry, the last Tu-154 was manufactured in 2007 as the country moves to more modern models that pass Europe's strict noise restriction laws.
The Tupolev explosion capped a nightmare week for aviation authorities that included unprecedented disruptions at Moscow's two main airports.
The hundreds of delays at Domodedovo -- which handles a daily average of more than 55,000 passengers -- were caused by power disruptions that affected the outskirts of Moscow following a spell of unseasonable winter rain.
The resulting ice not only damaged power lines but also brought Moscow's second airport Sheremetyevo to a virtual halt.
That drew a furious response from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and resulted with the threat of sanctions hanging over such major Russian airlines as Aeroflot and Transaero.
The disruptions resulted in the dismissal of Aeroflot's deputy CEO Vladimir Smirnov and Domodedovo airport chief Vyacheslav Nekrasov.
News reports said additional sanctions may also be levied against Russia's S7 and Ural Airlines.
No foreign companies have been affected by the probes.
Source - Yahoo.
Emergency workers scrambled to ensure that Russia's main aviation hub avoided a second power outage in a week as they hooked Domodedovo airport to a backup generator that worked despite broader disruptions around Moscow.
The airport's lights and computer screens went out for about 30 minutes on Sunday evening but a Domodedovo spokeswoman told the Interfax news agency that "the airport has and is continuing to operate according to schedule."
She said the dramatic two-day closure that the airport experienced in late December was unlikely to happen again but that a special emergencies ministry unit had been dispatched to Domodedovo just in case.
The true scale of Russia's recent transport problems was underscored over the weekend when a 27-year-old Tupolev jet caught fire on a Siberian runway and exploded moments before it was due to take off for Moscow.
Dramatic footage of the Surgut disaster -- which killed three and sent more than 40 to hospital with burns -- was replayed on television throughout the New Year weekend and prompted a series of emergency meetings in the Kremlin.
President Dmitry Medvedev was forced Sunday to receive one set of officials who were dealing with the Moscow airport disruptions and then another who were probing the Tu-154 runway blast.
Those meetings concluded with a threat of new sanctions facing Russian airlines and a decision to temporarily ground the oldest of the Tupolev jets.
The order affects only 14 of the hundreds of Tu-154 planes that fly post-Soviet skies and the country's transport authorities took pains Monday to assure passengers that the decision would not jeopardise travel.
The planes' "temporary removal from operations will not impact airline performance as a whole," a Federal Transport Oversight Agency spokesman told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
The older B model of the Tu-154 jets was manufactured between 1975 and 1986 and sold throughout South America and Africa as the Soviet Union competed with the United States' Boeing for international airline dominance.
It was not clear how many of these Tupolevs are still used by Moscow's Communist-era trade partners or the former Soviet states.
According to Russia's industry ministry, the last Tu-154 was manufactured in 2007 as the country moves to more modern models that pass Europe's strict noise restriction laws.
The Tupolev explosion capped a nightmare week for aviation authorities that included unprecedented disruptions at Moscow's two main airports.
The hundreds of delays at Domodedovo -- which handles a daily average of more than 55,000 passengers -- were caused by power disruptions that affected the outskirts of Moscow following a spell of unseasonable winter rain.
The resulting ice not only damaged power lines but also brought Moscow's second airport Sheremetyevo to a virtual halt.
That drew a furious response from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and resulted with the threat of sanctions hanging over such major Russian airlines as Aeroflot and Transaero.
The disruptions resulted in the dismissal of Aeroflot's deputy CEO Vladimir Smirnov and Domodedovo airport chief Vyacheslav Nekrasov.
News reports said additional sanctions may also be levied against Russia's S7 and Ural Airlines.
No foreign companies have been affected by the probes.
Source - Yahoo.