At the ICAO Conference on Air Services Negotiations (ICAN 2024), which took place in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur from 21 to 25 October, a delegation of the Russian Ministry of Transport headed by Deputy Minister Vladimir Poteshkin held bilateral talks with representatives of the aviation authorities of Qatar and Kuwait on 22 October. The main topics of discussion were the opening of cabotage flights on the territory of the Russian Federation and the possibility for Russian airlines to purchase foreign-made aircraft. This is reported on the website of Rosaviatsia.
The Russian side offered Kuwaiti airlines to study the prospects of performing intra-Russian short sea shipping within the framework of the conclusion of the relevant agreement, the Kuwaiti delegation offered to send an official letter from the aviation authorities of Russia with a detailed description of the conditions. In addition, a request was made for the purchase of passenger aircraft from the State of Kuwait, to which a reply was received that the delegation would inform its national carriers on the matter.
An official letter would also be sent to Qatar inviting Qatari airlines to consider operating short sea air services in the Russian Federation. When asked about the purchase of aircraft, the representative of the delegation of Qatar replied that the proposal would be forwarded to the national carrier, but that it was currently experiencing a shortage of passenger aircraft.
Cabotage is defined as transport when a foreign airline is authorised to fly between points within another country or between third countries. At the WEF-2024, Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit explained that foreign partners are already studying the proposal to operate cabotage flights in Russia, but did not specify which countries they are talking about. However, in order for short sea flights to become possible, the Air Code must be amended accordingly.
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