VIM-Avia has stopped operating charter flights. Vim-Avia may stop flying

MOSCOW, September 26. /Corr. TASS Maria Amirjanyan, Maria Dorokhina/. Airline "VIM-Avia", tenth largest airline The Russian Federation is on the verge of suspending transportation. The carrier's planes are under threat of arrest, and the company's flights are being transferred from Domodedovo to Vnukovo, which is ready to compromise on payments for services. The Federal Air Transport Agency is looking for other airlines that can provide transportation of passengers, and both Russian and foreign airlines are being considered.

VIM-Avia has suffered a number of critical schedule delays since last week, which could ultimately lead to a complete suspension of the airline's operations. On Monday, the Federal Air Transport Agency reported that the carrier’s financing had been frozen and the airline had run out of working capital. On Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Transport Valery Okulov said that the company’s debt burden for service in Domodedovo alone exceeds 500 million rubles, but the full amount has not yet been calculated.

The largest item of airline expense is leasing payments. VIM-Avia also has a large debt due to them: the Federal Air Transport Agency reported that the airline's planes are under threat of arrest, since the carrier has large overdue debts to lessors. Moreover, the airline's plane is not allowed to leave Antalya Airport - which also happens when lease payments for the plane are not paid. VIM-Avia passengers will be transported from Antalya by Russian Royal Flight and Azur Air.

VIM-Avia will completely stop charter flights in Russia and abroad, the Russian Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday. The Federal Air Transport Agency, in turn, hinted at the imminent revocation of the operator’s certificate, explaining that 200 million rubles for compensation to other airlines will be taken from the federal budget according to a government decree, which regulates the procedure for payments to carriers that have entered into an agreement with the airline in respect of which a decision has been made to suspend validity of the air operator certificate. An air operator certificate is the main document for an airline; it gives the right to operate flights.

As reported by the Federal Air Transport Agency, within the framework of the proposed conditions, representatives of airlines " Ural Airlines", "iFly", Red Wings, "NordStar", "Icarus", " North wind" and "Yakutia" expressed their readiness to transport passengers on VIM-Avia tickets within Russia. Moreover, the Greek Ellin air announced its readiness to transport airline passengers at its own expense.

State aid

At the same time, apparently, there are no plans for state guarantees or other financial assistance from the state, as was the case with the once second largest Transaero in Russia (then the state twice provided the company with state guarantees on loans), for VIM-Avia. Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said that state support for VIM-Avia is meaningless, “since the company has practically stopped working.”

Instead, it is planned to finance the activities of airlines that will help transport VIM-Avia passengers using budgetary and extra-budgetary sources. Thus, 200 million from the federal budget for 2018 is planned to be paid to compensate costs for airlines that will transport passengers on domestic regular destinations. International charter flights to transport tourists from abroad will be financed from extra-budgetary funds.

Everyone will return home

The main depth of sales of VIM-Avia tickets is until the end of October 2017, Oleg Safonov, head of the Federal Tourism Agency, told reporters on Tuesday. At the same time, the peak of the removal of tourists from vacation who were supposed to fly with VIM-Avia will occur at the end of September, the Turpomosch association clarifies. As of September 26, 196 thousand 633 VIM-Avia tickets were sold, of which 101 thousand tickets were sold as part of tour packages, the press service of Rostourism told TASS.

Safonov assured that the current situation will not lead to a collapse in the market, and all tourists on vacation will be returned home - even those who found themselves without return tickets on hands. Moreover, some tour operators, for example, Coral Travel And Anex Tour, have already begun to take tourists out of the resorts at their own expense, the director of Tourist Pomosch, Alexander Osaulenko, told reporters. The rest are still extending hotel stays for tourists.

“Tour operators place tourists in hotels, extend their vacation time, and pay for return air transportation for some (...) Nine tour operators took advantage of VIM-Avia’s transportation: eight outbound tourism tour operators and one domestic tour operator (among them Coral, Anex , "Intourist", Mouzenidis, Tez Tour, "Natalie Tours" and "Spassky Gate" - approx. TASS). Almost all tour operators have already begun work at their own expense to return tourists to their homeland,” Safonov noted.

According to Rostourism, there are almost 39 thousand tourists abroad who were supposed to fly on VIM-Avia flights; they are mainly concentrated in Turkey. Also, VIM-Avia clients are now in Italy, Spain, Greece and Cyprus, but the number of vacationers there is less significant: somewhere around 1-2 thousand people, somewhere several hundred, Osaulenko said.

In addition to holidaymakers abroad on Russian resorts 1 thousand 550 tourists - clients of VIM-Avia - were "stuck". In addition, 2 thousand 200 people cannot yet fly from Russia to their homeland Chinese tourists. All these tourist groups will be ensured to return home; the scheme is currently being discussed, the head of Rostourism assured.

As for tourists who purchased tours with VIM-Avia flights, but have not yet flown on vacation, they will be able to return the money spent for services not provided through the court, Safonov said. At the same time, Rostourism will provide information support to such tourists and tell them how best to act.

The airline "Vim-Avia" completely stops charter flights, reports the Federal Air Transport Agency. According to the regulator, the company no longer has the funds to continue its activities.

“The airline has decided to completely stop charter flights of passengers to vacation destinations (export),” indicate the Federal Air Transport Agency.

According to the owner of the airline, the carrier has neither working nor borrowed funds to continue transporting passengers on its own, the department said in a statement following a meeting on the operational activities of Vim-Avia.

The airline “cannot operate flights without additional funding” and plans to “introduce external crisis management,” according to a statement published in official group carrier "VKontakte" post.

“Unfortunately, we have to admit that the Vim-Avia airline has a difficult economic situation. Working capital has run out, funding has been frozen, and services at airports have been suspended,” the statement said.

It also states that the company continues negotiations with financial institutions to support the airline to normalize the situation and expedite the removal of passengers.

“The airline is counting on the support of government agencies, as well as partners from the tourism industry.

And since the airline cannot operate flights without additional funding, we are planning to introduce external crisis management,” states Vim-Avia.

The Federal Air Transport Agency stated that government authorities are currently searching for funds necessary to continue transporting the airline's passengers. "WITH Russian airlines Negotiations are underway to replace Vim-Avia on socially important routes to cities Far East", the regulator assured.

Previously, experts noted that the main problem with the removal of passengers would be on Far Eastern routes.

“There are problems in the Pevek and Anadyr directions. There are no queues of people wanting to fly there,” said Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the industry agency AviaPort.

“There are more than 80 thousand charter passengers with Vimov (VIM-Avia - ed.) tickets,” Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators, told Gazeta.Ru.

The situation with Vim-Avia escalated last weekend, when more than 10 airline flights departing on September 22 and 23 were postponed to Domodedovo. The Federal Air Transport Agency reported that the delays were due to the airline's debts for fuel. The airline itself explained the situation as a “traditional seasonal downturn,” which led to “disputes between business entities and delays of a number of flights.”

As a result, the Moscow Interregional Investigation Department for Transport Investigative Committee began a pre-investigation investigation into the delay of Vim-Avia flights and violation of the rights of passengers. By the evening of Monday, September 26, it became known that a criminal case had been opened on suspicion of theft Money passengers by airline officials. The case was initiated under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale).

The Prosecutor General's Office made a presentation to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency in connection with the delays of Vim-Avia flights and the delays in salaries for the employees of this airline; the Federal Air Transport Agency began a pre-investigation check of the airline.

“The debt to the lessors and the airport has been accumulating for more than 4 months. And the regulator didn’t know about this?” Lomidze asks.

“My parents couldn’t fly to Turkey today,” Muscovite Tatyana Ilyina told Gazeta.Ru. — Flight nn9307 was initially at 15:55, then the time changed to 19, then 21. We arrived at the airport at 19:00 to check in for the flight. We find out on the spot that the flight has been postponed for tomorrow at 12:10.”

According to her, a huge number of parents with children and elderly people attacked the Vim-Avia counter.

But the girls behind the counter didn’t give any announcements, they said that they didn’t have the information and we had to wait for the information on the board.

“Fortunately, we did not have time to check in for the flight and check in our luggage. We wanted to buy tickets from another company so that the tour would not be lost. But alas, there were no flights to Antalya at the Domodedovo ticket office for today.

Tour operator TUI also does not comment, claiming that the plane will take off tomorrow,” said Ilyina.

According to the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, Irina Tyurina, once again the solution to the problem falls on the shoulders of tour operators. “It turns out that they now urgently need to look for alternative transportation in order to take from the resorts and send to the resorts, according to various estimates, from 50 to 80 thousand tourists.

In any case, people need to be evacuated; they cannot stay for permanent residence in Turkey or Greece,” added Tyurina

In total, according to expert estimates, Vim-Avia has obligations to more than 190 thousand passengers, Tyurina clarified. According to her, this is about charter flights, those who bought tickets for more than a month, as well as Chinese citizens whom the company actively transports.

There are no free sides on the market now, she says. At the same time, tour operators paid deposits to guarantee the flight program. “A deposit is placed, and current payments follow a certain schedule. “Vim-Avia has several million dollars of these deposits, according to expert estimates, at least 6 million dollars,” Tyurina explained.

“We have already experienced the story with Transaero, when the regulator, Rosaviation, appointed airlines that, under certain conditions, took out tourists. We should not be interested in what conditions, but this export function should in no case fall on the shoulders of tour operators. This is not their problem,” Tyurina snapped.

Tour operators hope that tomorrow Rosaviatsiya will take care of “its main responsibilities and attract airlines to take tourists out,” summed up the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry.

VIM-Avia announced a complete cessation of charter flights. The carrier plans to introduce external crisis management. The Federal Air Transport Agency said that negotiations are underway with other companies about the removal of passengers

Boeing 777-200 aircraft of VIM-Avia airlines (Photo: Alexander Tarasenkov / Interpress / TASS)

VIM-Avia has completely stopped charter flights. This is stated in a message from the Federal Air Transport Agency received by RBC.

“Various options are being considered, including the introduction of crisis management and the removal of existing management from control over economic activity,” the department said.

The report also says that negotiations are underway with other carriers about replacing aircraft on “socially important routes.” “Negotiations are underway with Russian airlines to replace VIM-Avia on socially important routes to the cities of the Far East,” explained the Federal Air Transport Agency.

The airline “cannot operate flights without additional funding” and plans to “introduce external crisis management,” stated in the published in the VKontakte group message of the carrier.

“Unfortunately, we have to admit that the VIM-Avia airline has a difficult economic situation. Working capital has run out, funding has been frozen, and airport services have been suspended.
IN this moment We continue negotiations with financial institutions to support the airline to normalize the situation and expedite the removal of passengers. The airline is counting on the support of government agencies, as well as partners from the tourism industry. And since the airline cannot operate flights without additional funding, we are planning to introduce external crisis management,” says a message on the company’s page.

“We are taking all possible measures to remove passengers as quickly as possible,” the carrier assured.

Press secretary of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry (RST) Irina Tyurina said that the tour operators who worked with the airline that stopped flights received from 50 to 80 thousand vacationers from the resorts. “In total, according to expert estimates, VIM-Avia has obligations to more than 190 thousand passengers on regular and charter flights, including those who bought tickets for more than a month and will not be able to use them,” she added.

Earlier, Rosaviatsia announced VIM-Avia due to massive delays of flights, including from Domodedovo, the company’s main airport, due to arrears in fuel payments. Prior to this, the Prosecutor General's Office accused the department of inaction in the current situation. The supervisory authority warned that new massive violations may occur due to airline flight delays. The Prosecutor General’s Office also demanded that the Federal Air Transport Agency assess VIM-Avia’s compliance with certification requirements.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, from January to August 2017, 12% of VIM-Avia flights took off with a delay of more than two hours; in absolute terms, the number of delayed flights reached 1,020 flights.

The Investigative Committee of Russia suspected company officials of “theft of passengers’ funds through deception on an especially large scale.” Investigators believe that the airline's management knew about the lack of funds to purchase fuel and the inability to fulfill its obligations to passengers, but the sale of tickets continued. Thus, VIM-Avia, as the Investigative Committee believes, received “by deception, funds in the amount of over 1 million rubles.”

With the participation of: Vasily Marinin

The owner of VIM-Avia has neither working capital nor borrowed funds to continue operating on its own, co-owner of the airline Mursekaev said on Rossiya-24.

“Working capital has run out, financing has been suspended. Service at airports has been suspended. Since the airline cannot operate flights, we are studying the possibility of introducing external crisis management,” he said (quoted by Interfax).

Mursekaev clarified that the airline continued negotiations with financial institutions and government agencies to support VIM-Avia. It is reported that creditors are prepared to retain an interest in the airline “only if its financial model is fundamentally changed.” VIM-Avia's creditors are tour operators, airports and leasing companies.

The airline's flights on September 25 are delayed. Some of them were delayed for a day, according to data from the online scoreboard of Domodedovo airport. As TASS reports, other airlines can join the most important routes to the Far East.

“On behalf of the entire VIM-Avia airline, we apologize to all passengers of the delayed flights.
Unfortunately, we have to admit that the VIM-Avia airline has a difficult economic situation,” it says on the airline's VKontakte page. It is noted that VIM-Avia is counting on the introduction of external crisis management.

As executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze said, until the end tourist season VIM-Avia was supposed to deliver more than 80 thousand tour operator clients to vacation spots. “The carrier took more than $10 million in deposits for charter flights,” she said.

Two Bell sources noted that scheduled flights will last longer, until October 2. According to The Bell, creditors provided the airline with money for flights until noon on September 25. After this, the airline will not be able to carry out transportation, since it does not have money for fuel and aircraft maintenance at the airport.

Due to arrears in fuel payments, VIM-Avia previously delayed several dozen flights at Domodedovo airport. The Prosecutor General's Office of the Federal Air Transport Agency will check the VIM-Avia certificate for the carriage of passengers.

On September 25, against VIM-Avia about fraud on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, company employees sold tickets for the flight, although they knew that the plane would not fly. The Investigative Committee claimed that “through deception” they received over a million rubles. Earlier, the Volga Transport Prosecutor's Office reported that VIM-Avia owed more than 200 million rubles to its employees; the airline did not pay them wages. A case was opened at VIM-Avia for violation of labor laws.

The airline "Vim-Avia" completely stops charter flights, reports the Federal Air Transport Agency. According to the regulator, the company no longer has the funds to continue its activities.

“The airline has decided to completely stop charter flights of passengers to vacation destinations (export),” indicate the Federal Air Transport Agency.

The airline “cannot operate flights without additional funding” and plans to “introduce external crisis management,” according to a post published in the carrier’s official VKontakte group.

It also states that the company continues negotiations with financial institutions to support the airline to normalize the situation and expedite the removal of passengers.

“The airline is counting on the support of government agencies, as well as partners from the tourism industry.
And since the airline cannot operate flights without additional funding, we are planning to introduce external crisis management,” states Vim-Avia.

The Federal Air Transport Agency stated that government authorities are currently searching for funds necessary to continue transporting the airline's passengers. “Negotiations are underway with Russian airlines to replace Vim-Avia on socially important routes to the cities of the Far East,” the regulator assured.

Previously, experts noted that the main problem with the removal of passengers would be on Far Eastern routes.
“There are problems in the Pevek and Anadyr directions. There are no queues of people wanting to fly there,” said Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the industry agency AviaPort.

“There are more than 80 thousand charter passengers with Vimov (VIM-Avia - ed.) tickets,” Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators, told Gazeta.Ru.

As a result, the Moscow Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee began a pre-investigation investigation into the delay of Vim-Avia flights and violation of the rights of passengers. By the evening of Monday, September 26, it became known that a criminal case had been opened on suspicion of theft of passengers' funds by airline officials. The case was initiated under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale).

According to the investigation, VIM-Avia officials continued to sell air tickets for flights, knowing that the airline did not have enough funds to purchase fuel. More than 1 million rubles were received from ticket sales.
The Prosecutor General's Office made a presentation to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency in connection with the delays of Vim-Avia flights and the delays in salaries for the employees of this airline; the Federal Air Transport Agency began a pre-investigation check of the airline.

“The debt to the lessors and the airport has been accumulating for more than 4 months. And the regulator didn’t know about this?” Lomidze asks.

According to her, a huge number of parents with children and elderly people attacked the Vim-Avia counter.
But the girls behind the counter didn’t give any announcements, they said that they didn’t have the information and we had to wait for the information on the board.

Tour operator TUI also does not comment, claiming that the plane will take off tomorrow,” said Ilyina.
According to the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, Irina Tyurina, once again the solution to the problem falls on the shoulders of tour operators. “It turns out that they now urgently need to look for alternative transportation in order to take from the resorts and send to the resorts, according to various estimates, from 50 to 80 thousand tourists.

In any case, people need to be evacuated; they cannot stay for permanent residence in Turkey or Greece,” added Tyurina
In total, according to expert estimates, Vim-Avia has obligations to more than 190 thousand passengers, Tyurina clarified. According to her, we are talking about charter flights, those who bought tickets for more than a month, as well as Chinese citizens whom the company actively transports.