Minsk informs Russia of Russian airlines flight frequency reduction as of April 13
MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax) - Russia has received from the Belarusian aviation authorities unilateral notification of a reduction of Russian airline flight frequency from Moscow to Minsk as of April 13, a statement on the Russian Transport Ministry website says.
"This fact evokes surprise, as during the negotiations on March 29 in Moscow, with the general secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus Grigory Rapota in attendance, agreement was reached on the fulfillment by the by designated airlines of both parties of a program of flights between points in Russia and Belarus to May 10, 2012 and the continuation of the aviation authorities' negotiations," the statement says.
This preliminary agreement included confirmation by aviation authorities in both countries of five daily flights between the countries' capitals Moscow and Minsk. "The preliminary agreements were based on the volume of passenger travel significantly increasing in the summer period as compared with the winter," the ministry says.
Russia has sent the aviation authorities of Belarus a proposal that a meeting for further negotiations be held soon.
Flight connections between Moscow and Minsk were interrupted the morning of March 26 due to the two countries not being able to reach a deal on the number of flights. Flights were temporarily resumed until March 29, and subsequently a flight program effective until May 10 was approved.
Aeroflot - Russian Airlines , UTair (RTS-TMAT), Sibir, and Belavia are the carriers flying between Russia and Belarus now.