Everything charter flights... This was preceded by massive flight delays, as a result of which thousands of tourists were unable to fly from airports. The carrier's debts are estimated at billions of rubles. The company has no funds either to compensate tourists or replace delayed flights.

How did it all start?

The first difficulties for the company began in late spring: on May 31, VIM-Avia canceled hundreds of flights throughout the country. Charter flights to Turkey, Bulgaria and a number of others were postponed two days later. popular destinations... In just a week, due to disruption of traffic, about 10 thousand passengers were unable to take off. Most of them are clients of the tour operators NTK Intourist, Coral Travel, ICS Travel Group and others.

At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency was intimidated by the possibility of canceling charter flights in Russia if the massive delays continued. Later this information was refuted. Part of the obligations of VIM-Avia in the carriage of passengers was assumed by Turkish Onur Air and Bulgarian Bulgaria Air.

VIM-Avia eliminated the glitches in the flight schedule by mid-June. However, the company has already managed to attract the attention of law enforcement agencies. An administrative case was opened against the carrier due to the delay of 173 flights in two months in total.

Why are the delays repeated?

Point failures occurred in the schedule in the summer. But the situation took off seriously on 23 September. Then it became known about the company's multibillion-dollar debts, which VIM-Avia is unable to repay. For example, the carrier owed over 500 million rubles to Domodedovo airport for aircraft maintenance, and also did not systematically pay salaries to its employees. Only flight attendants and pilots were underpaid by about 30 million rubles. The total debt to the personnel is 206 million rubles. The company's accounts payable are estimated at 3 to 10 billion rubles.

The prosecutor's check, carried out on the fact of massive delays, has already established that the company's employees were selling tickets to passengers knowing that they would not be able to fly away. The total amount of embezzlement has not yet been determined, however, according to preliminary estimates, more than 140 thousand tourists have suffered.

Several hundred passengers are at Domodedovo in the hope that their departure will still take place. Many passengers stay at the airports of Antalya, Rimini and some popular resorts and can't go home.

Other air carriers have already announced that they are not going to operate flights instead of VIM-Avia. Over the summer, over 220 thousand tourists who bought VIM-Avia tickets were transported by third-party airlines. The Russian Union of Travel Industry has already warned that there will be nothing to take out tourists in case of departure of VIM-Avia planes. There are practically no free boards on the market. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) has already demanded government intervention in the situation.

What do they say at VIM-Avia?

Initially, the carrier's representatives attributed the delays to the "traditional seasonal downturn" and late arrivals. aircraft from maintenance. However, a few days later, the company's management admitted that it was in significant financial difficulties and was not able to fulfill its obligations to passengers. One of the options for a way out of this situation, he sees a possible transfer of the company to external management. This is stated on the company's website.

On September 24, the management of VIM-Avia appealed to the authorities for the provision of state guarantees for loans. The next day, the Federal Air Transport Agency began an unscheduled inspection of the airline due to flight delays. The Ministry of Transport is also checking it. The head of the department, Maxim Sokolov, explained that problems with delays mainly affected charter flights. Regular ones leave with minimal delay from the schedule. “The company has delayed the repair of a number of aircraft, and in this case, the reduction, naturally, fell on charter programs - this is an international practice,” Sokolov said.

Based on the results of the inspections, the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency decided to suspend the charter programs of VIM-Avia, and the company was obliged to take passengers from the resting places on their own or with the involvement of outside forces. From Tuesday, September 26, the company's flights will be at Vnukovo airport.

What happens at airports?

VIM-Avia flights take off with many hours of delays. In Crimea, passengers of the Simferopol-Moscow flight waited at the airport for seven hours.

Both domestic flights (to St. Petersburg, Sochi, Krasnodar, Blagoveshchensk, Magadan) and international flights (Dubai, Antalya, Thessaloniki, Rimini, Yerevan) were postponed. There are over 43 thousand airline customers at foreign airports.

Operational headquarters for returning from abroad Russian tourists- clients of "VIM-Avia" in the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism). The service will receive data on clients who are abroad and will determine the timing of the removal of tourists.

Will tourists be able to get their money back?

Rospotrebnadzor has published recommendations for tourists related to damages. Under these circumstances, the passenger has the right to cancel the flight and receive money even for non-refundable ticket... Refusal to fly in this case is considered forced.

Moreover, the airline's customers have the right to demand compensation for moral damage and compensation for losses due to flight delays. In addition, passengers may request a hotel for a delay of more than eight hours. If the flight is postponed for four or more hours, customers should be provided with free hot meals. Also, according to the rules, after two to three hours, you can ask for soft drinks.

In most cases, issues related to the cancellation of charter flights can be resolved through the tour operator. Charter flights are usually not profitable for independent travelers, they fly mainly on package tours... Large tour operators, as a rule, find an alternative airline for the flight without any problems. The company may offer other options for recreation or is obliged to fully compensate the cost of the tour. ATOR supposes that even if VIM-Avia goes bankrupt, the situation will not become critical for the tourism business.

Nevertheless, ATOR believes that Russian tour operators cannot afford to return such a number of tourists on their own.

“All charter programs of VIM-Avia were fully paid by tour operators until the end of the season. To allocate funds for re-payment of flights (and this, according to preliminary estimates, at least $ 10 million) without the threat of disrupting the stable operation of the tour operators today do not have the technical capability, ”the association said in a letter.

If you bought the ticket yourself, you can get compensation only by contacting the airline directly. It will not be superfluous to follow the messages of the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Ministry of Transport. There is a compensation system for canceled flights to EU countries, thanks to which up to € 600 can be refunded for a canceled flight.

The Compensair service, which specializes in receiving compensation for delays and cancellations of flights, recommends keeping a cool head, and at the same time preparing a number of documents that can further facilitate the refund procedure. So, for example, if a passenger finds out about a flight cancellation while already at the airport, he should receive a written commentary from the airline or a certificate of cancellation of the flight.

“I recommend collecting the contacts of all passengers on the flight. This will allow the airline to file a collective complaint and then a claim. In accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, the first thing that should definitely be required from an airline is the fulfillment of transportation obligations. Compensation for delay or cancellation is unlikely to be obtained directly from the airline, so I recommend that passengers unite to go to court, ”said Roman Gilmanov, CEO of the company.

The airline announced a reduction in the charter program of flights until June 15. What should tourists who have booked tickets for these dates do?

VIM-Avia will cut its charters until June 15. The airline made such a decision to minimize rolling delays in flights due to the late arrival of three aircraft from scheduled repairs, the carrier said.

The problem with departures at VIM-Avia began at the end of May, and difficulties arose both for charter flights and for regular ones: some were canceled, some were delayed for several hours. On June 1, the plane, which was supposed to take off from Ufa to Sochi, was delayed for 15 hours. Departures were also postponed to Magadan. The regional authorities have promised to sever relations with the airline if the situation repeats itself.

On Thursday, the management of VIM-Avia was summoned to the Federal Air Transport Agency. After the conversation, the department said that the carrier would need several more days to fully enter the schedule. Oleg Panteleev, head of the analytical service of the Aviaport agency, discusses the possible consequences for the airline:

Oleg Panteleev Head of the Analytical Service of the Aviaport Agency“Taking into account the rather tight flight schedule, which was formed by the carrier, the untimely arrival after the maintenance of three wide-body aircraft could not but have a dramatic effect on the integrity of the flight program. There is no need to say that a two-week break will lead the airline to collapse, at least the volume of lost revenue does not look like an irreplaceable loss against the background of the company's annual revenue. On the other hand, if such precedents are repeated, then the possible risks for the carrier will increase both on the part of the customers of tourist charter programs and on the part of the aviation authorities, which, to put it mildly, are not happy with the situation if any of the carriers allows long delays. flights. We see that in previous years the Federal Air Transport Agency reacted rather harshly to such precedents, if people were stuck at airports for a day and such disruptions continued for a long time. "

The problems with flights were not only caused by the aircraft that were late from repairs. At the end of May, it was reported that VIM-Avia did not have enough crews: many pilots had run out of sanitary standards by May 20, and they could not fly until next month.

However, last year the airline also experienced problems, and the Federal Air Transport Agency even warned it about the possibility of limiting the operator's certificate due to massive flight delays. The head of the travel company "Gaudi Tour" Yevgeny Potapov says that he does not cooperate with this carrier:

Evgeny Potapov head of the travel company "Gaudi Tour"“Last year, one of the tour operators had blocks on VIM-Avia, and almost every flight was either delayed or canceled. There was a scandal, it was junk all summer. Therefore, this season, although they promised that new planes had arrived, the fleet was replenished, but, as you can see, the same thing. I got a little bit with a regular flight. The tourist had a flight to Sochi, and they called in a day and said that it had been canceled. We compensated for the full cost, nevertheless there was such a precedent ”.

The Ministry of Transport will increase the levels of compensation to passengers for flight delays in order to increase the responsibility of airlines in such situations, the head of the ministry Maxim Sokolov told RIA Novosti.

On VIM-Avia flights this summer, charters were organized by such large tour operators as Anex Tour, "NTK Intourist", Coral Travel, Mouzenidis Travel, TUI and others, the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina told Interfax. Now the problem of the carrier will fall on their shoulders, Dmitry Gorin, advisor to the head of the Federal Agency for Tourism, told Business FM:

Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism“Now the operators have taken on the main burden of resolving the situation. Alas, there are no free planes, and, of course, it will be extremely difficult to find a replacement for these flights, which VIM-Avia is canceling, within two weeks. Now Rosaviatsia is promoting travel companies in the search for possible alternatives, but given the onset of high tourist season this year the demand for tourist travel has grown by 20-30%, alas, this is not so easy to do. Now, probably, there will be certain changes in the departure time of flights, the names of airlines, so we recommend that tourists who have previously issued tickets for VIM-Avia keep track of up-to-date information through travel companies. Tourists who are already at the resorts will be transported by the airline. At least this is the official position of VIM-Avia. And tourists who have not yet departed will now be rebooked for flights of other airlines or will receive a refund if it is impossible to carry out transportation. "

As the head of the Ministry of Transport said on the sidelines of the St. this moment not planned.

Last Monday, the owners of the VIM-Avia air carrier announced their readiness to transfer the company to external management due to the financial problems that had arisen. Last week, VIM-Avia's flight delays became widespread; at airports abroad and within the country, about a hundred thousand passengers who bought tickets from this company cannot fly to their destination. The Federal Air Transport Agency and the Ministry of Transport confer, seek opportunities, promise to figure it out, and so on. What happened to the airline, to what extent are its problems typical for all Russian air carriers and what is the government doing to resolve the situation?

The scale of the disaster

For the period January-August of this year, VIM-Avia carried almost 2 million passengers and, in terms of passenger traffic, entered the top ten among Russian air carriers. Last week, the base airport of the Domodedovo company refused to service the VIM-Avia aircraft due to debts. The company owed the airport 500 million rubles, flights were resumed for a short period under the guarantees of Tatneft on payment for fuel, but over the past weekend 15 VIM-Avia flights were delayed at Domodedovo, and from Monday 24 more flights for arrival and for departure. At foreign airports (mainly in Turkey) about 30 thousand people "hang", inside the country 70 thousand people cannot fly away through the fault of the company, some sources say the total figure is 140 thousand people. Among the passengers who cannot fly out due to the cancellation of VIM-Avia flights, there are also foreigners: they cannot take off from Domodedovo, violating passport control, 500 tourists from China. VIM-Avia does not make any attempts to provide passengers sitting in airport lounges through the fault of the carrier with food, housing or even warm clothes. There are reports on the network that the company was famous for neglect of the interests of passengers of delayed flights earlier.

Last week, the air carrier turned to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich with a request to provide state guarantees for loans. The Deputy Prime Minister “sent” this appeal to the Ministry of Transport to “formulate proposals”. While the proposals were "being formed", "VIM-Avia" "rained down" with all that it implies.

The transport prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee were worried, a criminal case was opened on fraud on an especially large scale on the fact of embezzlement by officials of VIM-Avia.

Regulatory authorities conduct inspections and suddenly discover that the company is not doing great financially. The Ministry of Transport, Federal Air Transport Agency and tour operators hold endless meetings. Everything is in business, work is in full swing, people are waiting at the airports.

Reasons for the "fall"

The VIM-Avia company is relatively small: it owns only 26 aircraft, of which only 20 fly. At the same time, the carrier has debts from various sources up to 10 billion rubles, of which the company owes 1 billion rubles only for kerosene. (according to some sources - 3 billion rubles). This is too much for a small company. VIM-Avia has been experiencing disruptions in air transportation for several years already. The carrier saves on salaries for employees, the amount of arrears under this expense item reaches hundreds of millions of rubles, the prosecutor's office periodically connects, and then the salaries are paid, after which the company gets into debts to refuellers, when this resource is depleted, takes loans, and then delays the salary again ... The company tried to expand its fleet by leasing more than 10 vessels last year, and this year entered into a number of agreements of intent for the supply of liners. This was done, probably in anticipation of future profits - the growth of air traffic (on foreign flights up to 30%) this year has been significant. That is, this approach is not typical for a typical "pyramid". The trouble is that the current growth in tourist traffic does not promise large profits for airlines - ticket prices at least do not grow, and in many directions have even decreased, which is not to say about the costs of airlines. Many carriers are balancing on the brink of profitability, even large companies demonstrate losses in the winter season, despite the growth in passenger traffic.

What a surprise

VIM-Avia accounts for very little of the total passenger traffic in the country, only a couple of percent, therefore, due to the termination of the carrier's work, no significant changes are expected in this market. But in this story (which has not yet ended for passengers) with the carrier's flight delay, all the problems of organizing air transportation in the country were highlighted in all its glory.

Flight delays at VIM-Avia have happened before, tour operators say that this "sin" has been observed by the company for a long time, since 2010. In 2016, Rosaviatsia threatened the company to deprive it of its ability to operate charter flights due to regular flight delays. This year, flight delays at the carrier began in the spring, and in the summer the Federal Tourism Agency called for an end to the sale of tours with VIM-Avia flights, and the Federal Air Transport Agency offered the company to reduce the program of flights to China. In July of this year, a whole deputy prime minister of the government, Vitaly Mutko, instructed to form a headquarters and create a special working group to normalize the situation with tourist passengers on VIM-Avia flights. The official also instructed to "ensure the delivery to rest" of all Russian tourists who find themselves in a difficult situation.

That is, everyone knew about the problems of the carrier and knew for a long time. But the government continued to work with the company, attracting it to provide transportation to Sochi and Simferopol, tour operators today hang all the dogs on VIM-Avia, although, perfectly aware of the risk of working with the company, they continued to conclude charter contracts with it. At the same time, tour operators cannot and do not want to take on any risks associated with the carrier. Tour operators have an insurance fund for unforeseen circumstances, but they are not going to spend it on taking tourists from holiday destinations - not their responsibility. Meanwhile, passengers are sitting at the airports. The Federal Air Transport Agency does not have its own fund, or rather it does, but it is very small, only 50 million rubles, and it will not be enough to solve this "unexpected" problem. Meanwhile, passengers are sitting at the airports. The government and the Federal Air Transport Agency "form" proposals and are looking for extra-budgetary sources of funding. Meanwhile, passengers continue to sit at the airports. At the same time, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has already poured and still intends to inject a couple of trillion rubles into several problem banks, without even asking where the preferential loans previously allocated by the regulator to these banks have gone. A fraction of a percent of this amount would be enough for the removal of all passengers of delayed flights.

Ideally, the travel company is not obliged to think about the financial situation of the carrier - for this, there are special state supervisory bodies that issue permits to the air carrier to operate flights.

A citizen purchasing a voucher (package service) from a tour operator is not obliged to be interested in the financial stability of all parties involved in the provision of travel services. For this, there are many relevant government agencies.

But then there was a failure in the system and it turns out that there are no guilty people, except for VIM-Avia (albeit quite deservedly), there is no money to send passengers, there are no free boards, other carriers are extremely reluctant to "clean up" for VIM-Avia ”, There are no people responsible for what happened either. The owners of the airline hastily left the territory of Russia. President Vladimir Putin chastises Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dvorkovich. And the passengers of the delayed VIM-Avia flights continue to sit at the airports.

Almost 40 thousand Russians remain abroad, organizing their return can cost more than $ 10 million, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) calculated. In the meantime, the aviation authorities continue to find out the amount of VIM-Avia's debt - the results of an unscheduled audit are expected next week. The question of who will take out the passengers of the airline has not yet been resolved. In the meantime, VIM-Avia, which got into a difficult financial situation, changed its base airport: from Domodedovo, where the carrier's planes stopped refueling due to debts for fuel, the company will move to Vnukovo.

ATOR sent an appeal to Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko with a request to resolve the situation with the insolvency of VIM-Avia. This is stated in the message on the official website of the organization. According to ATOR, by the end of the summer season, which traditionally ends in the second half of October, the airline must carry another 200 thousand people, of which 100 thousand people are Russian tourists going on tourist trips in Russia and abroad. The suspension of the company's activities and problems with the organization of the remaining flights can cause reputational damage to the executive authorities and travel companies, we are confident in the organization.

Tour operators may also face the problem of exporting Russian tourists who are vacationing abroad. The head of the Federal Tourism Agency, Oleg Safonov, said that we are talking about almost 39 thousand passengers, most of whom are in Turkey. Re-payment for export flights will cost tour operators at least $ 10 million, the association calculated. Mr. Safonov said that the Russian authorities would take care of the organization of the Russians. “The situation is under complete control. All tourists, I want to assure you, will be returned home, and this will not be done at the expense of tour operators, ”he said in an interview with Kommersant FM.

Following a meeting in the Federal Air Transport Agency with the participation of airlines to compensate for their costs, it was decided to allocate about 200 million rubles from the next year's federal budget. Representatives of Ural Airlines, iFly, Red Wings, NordStar, IKAR, Nordwind and Yakutia have already expressed their willingness to carry passengers on VIM-Avia tickets. Azur Air and Royal Flight already carry passengers, UTair is exploring technical support options. The implementation of international charters for the export of tourists from abroad will be financed by extra-budgetary sources: they will go exclusively to pay for fuel and airport services.

To control the efficient use of these funds, VIM-Avia is introducing external management, which will include representatives of Vnukovo airport and airlines with experience in anti-crisis management.

According to the source of Vedomosti, today the Federal Air Transport Agency decided that VIM-Avia flights from Vnukovo will be financed by Aeroflot's subsidiary, Rossiya Airlines. The airline's press service denied this information.

At the same time, the operating activities of the company will be conducted from Vnukovo airport as a base one "until all passengers are transported," its chairman of the board of directors Vitaly Vantsev told TASS. All aircrafts of the carrier will also be transferred there. At its base airport Domodedovo, VIM-Avia faced problems with refueling due to debt for jet fuel, the volume of which was estimated at 500 million rubles. The first passengers of VIM-Avia should arrive at Vnukovo on Tuesday. Vnukovo Airport said that within two days the timetables will be coordinated "with the participation of carriers who are ready to provide support in the transportation of VIM-Avia passengers." The head of the Ministry of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, said that not only Russian, but also Greek airlines showed interest in transporting passengers. Mr. Sokolov believes that it makes no sense to provide state support to the airline, because it "has practically stopped its work."

Wherein aviation authorities have not yet figured out the amount of the carrier's total debt. According to ATOR's estimates, the total accounts payable of VIM-Avia can range from 3 billion to 10 billion rubles.

On Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Transport Valery Okulov said that "the numbers are floating" and the task is "to understand the size of the disaster."

"Initially, there was a debt at the Domodedovo airport in the region of 500 million rubles, now there are other volumes," Interfax quotes the official. He added that officially VIM-Avia did not ask for state guarantees, "while it is at the level of conversations." Mr. Okulov also said that the Federal Air Transport Agency must submit the results of an unscheduled inspection of the carrier (started on the weekend after the Prosecutor General's Office was presented to the head of the agency, Alexander Neradko. - "B") at the beginning of the next week. According to the deputy minister, about the cancellation of the operator's certificate (the main document giving the right to commercial transportation. "B") It's too early to talk about VIM-Avia.

Co-owner of the carrier Rashid Mursekaev said that the company had run out of working capital and its financing was frozen. Mr. Mursekaev also indicated his readiness to transfer control over the business to an external manager.

Over the weekend, 20 VIM-Avia flights could not take off from Domodedovo on time; on Monday, another 28 flights were delayed, including to resorts, to China and the Far East. On Monday, the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Ministry of Transport suspended the charter program of VIM-Avia, and the Moscow Interregional Investigation Department for Transport under the ICR opened a criminal case on large-scale fraud on the fact of embezzlement by VIM-Avia officials: investigators believe that the company continued to sell tickets, knowing that they will not be able to make flights.

Executive Director of ATOR Maya Lomidze:

I would like to understand who controls the situation. The collapse, in my opinion, has already happened. Our appeal to the government is due to the fact that if now we do not take any measures in the context of charter flights, I emphasize that it is charter flights, then the situation will clearly tend to worsen, because miracles do not happen in the world. These flights were paid in full, we are talking about tens of millions of dollars, which should have been on the account of the airline, these are the deposits that the tour operators paid to VIM-Avia. Now the carrier says it cannot operate the flight because it has no money. The question is where did they go.

VIM-Avia passengers will be carried by seven airlines

On Tuesday, September 26, the Federal Air Transport Agency conducted emergency meeting on the issue of transportation of passengers of the VIM-Avia airline, which stopped flights the day before. The meeting was attended by representatives of the airport "Vnukovo", airlines "Aeroflot", " Ural Airlines", S7, Royal Flight, Azur Air, IFly, Nordstar, Red Wings and Yakutia, as well as owners and managers of VIM-Avia.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, “a decision has been agreed on the allocation of about 200 million rubles. from the federal budget next year to compensate for the costs of airlines that will carry passengers on domestic regular routes. "

Representatives of the airlines Ural Airlines, AyFly, Red Wings, NordStar, IKAR, North wind"And" Yakutia "have expressed their readiness to transport passengers on tickets" VIM-Avia ".

Rosaviatsia notes that "the situation at VIM-Avia is extremely difficult." “The carrier does not have the resources to continue operating activities, as a result of which refueling and servicing of aircraft at the airports of Russia and foreign countries has been terminated. The aircraft rented on a lease basis are under the threat of arrest, since the airline has a large overdue debt to lessors, ”the Federal Air Transport Agency notes.

The transportation of passengers on international charter flights will be funded from extra-budgetary sources, the federal agency said.

At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency clarifies that to monitor the spending of these funds in VIM-Avia, external management is being introduced, which will be formed from representatives of the Vnukovo airport and airlines with experience in anti-crisis management.

Despite the stop of VIM-Avia aircraft at Antalya airport, charter passengers at the expense of tour operators are taken out of Turkish resorts by other Russian airlines, the Federal Air Transport Agency notes. In particular, Royal Flight today operated flights from Antalya to Moscow and to reverse direction, which carried 545 passengers. Azur Air has sent 235 passengers from Antalya to Moscow, and 160 passengers on the return flight. Other Russian airlines are also joining in cooperation with tour operators. The Greek airline Ellin Air has announced its readiness to carry passengers of VIM-Avia charter flights at its own expense.

Now Rosaviatsia together with VIM-Avia, all interested airlines and Vnukovo airport is developing a schedule for the export of charter passengers from abroad.

09/26: The VIM-Avia company has stopped charter flights

The carrier's management officially acknowledged that there is no working or borrowed funds. The cancellation will affect the most popular holiday destinations: Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Russian resorts... Almost one hundred thousand tourists may suffer - this is the data of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.

But how many people are stuck at airports is unknown, travel companies will not be able to deliver them to their homes - they have already requested support from the Federal Air Transport Agency.

Agency air transport reported that VIM-Avia will probably introduce external management, and the current management of the company will be removed from control over economic activities. She, by the way, has already become the subject of careful study by the Investigative Committee. A criminal case was opened there under the article "Fraud".

“Knowing that the airline’s funds were insufficient to purchase fuel, including at the Domodedovo airport, having no contracts for the supply of fuel with other suppliers and thus unable to fulfill their obligations to carry passengers, officials continued to sell air tickets on flights, receiving for it by deception cash", - reported in the TFR.

Hundreds of people are waiting for the VIM-Avia crisis to be resolved at Russian and foreign airports. Someone had to spend more than a day there: eating dry food, sleeping on things, or even right on the floor. People are storming the check-in counters, their nerves are on edge.

While some cannot return from vacation, others have lost the ability to fly within the country: VIM-Avia carried out regular flights to the Far East. As it became known, the company in the next two days will fulfill all obligations for the transportation of passengers to Blagoveshchensk and Anadyr. This decision was made following a meeting with the participation of the head of the Ministry of Transport and Federal Air Transport Agency.

What to do if your VIM-avia flight is canceled

Tour operators are making every effort to replace airlines for canceled flights. If your flight by VIM-Avia has been canceled for a ticket purchased from a travel agency, you should:

1. Contact the tour operator who is the organizer of the tour sold to you (directly or through the agency from which you bought the tour). They may have found another flight that will take you on vacation. In this case, you should request a flight confirmation.

If the tour operator could not find free seats for the carriage of passengers on the sold tours, you may be offered:
- change travel dates (without changing the cost)
- refund for the trip (without any penalties)
- buy tickets to the place of rest on your own, with a refund of funds previously paid by you for the flight.

2. You can try to select a flight for an independent flight to your holiday destination using the form below.
See flights not only for the planned, but also for adjacent dates (if you find suitable tickets for neighboring dates - book, but before paying, contact the tour operator - he must meet you and change the dates of arrival and departure from the hotel).

09/26: VIM-Avia becomes ownerless

The owners of the VIM-Avia airline announced their readiness to transfer the business to external management due to financial problems.

Rosaviatsia promises that other carriers will join the transportation of the company's passengers, and VIM-Avia can provide assistance from the agency's reserve fund, but there are 50 million rubles available there. obviously not enough, and there are no other sources of funds yet.

At the same time, the ICR has already opened a criminal case on fraud against VIM-Avia managers: the Investigative Committee believes that the airline sold tickets, already realizing that there is no money to buy fuel. The airline "VIM-Avia" on Monday actually admitted that it would not be able to cope with its problems on its own.

Co-owner of the carrier Rashid Mursekaev said that the company has a "difficult economic situation": working capital has run out, funding has been frozen, and services at airports have been suspended. VIM-Avia continues “negotiations with financial structures to support the airline, counts on the support of government agencies, as well as partners from the tourism industry” and plans to “introduce external anti-crisis management”.

The Ministry of Transport said that "they will work out the issues of providing guarantees for the airline's loans," while the Ministry of Economy has not yet received any requests from the airline with a request for state guarantees.

Delays of VIM-Avia flights became total at the end of last week, when the companies stopped supplying fuel. At the weekend due to debts for fuel for more than 500 million rubles. 20 VIM-Avia flights could not take off from Domodedovo on time, 28 more flights were delayed on Monday, including to resorts, to China and the Far East. On Saturday, the regulators paid attention to the situation (a meeting on VIM-Avia was held in the Federal Air Transport Agency) and law enforcement agencies.

On Monday, Rosaviatsia, after presenting the Prosecutor General's Office to the head of the agency, Alexander Neradko (“inaction of responsible officials” is noted), began an unscheduled audit of the company.

And the Moscow Interregional Investigation Department for Transport under the TFR opened a criminal case on large-scale fraud on the fact of embezzlement by VIM-Avia officials, the department reported. The head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed the department to "thoroughly investigate the reasons for the violation of passengers' rights and make a well-founded procedural decision" back on Sunday.

Based on the results of the inspections, the investigation concluded that at the end of last week the management of VIM-Avia “had a criminal intent for theft by deceiving passengers' funds on an especially large scale.” Officials of the company continued to sell tickets worth over 1 million rubles. which he could not fulfill the obligations of transportation, ”said the TFR. The general director of VIM-Avia, Alexander Kochnev, has already been interviewed, inquiries have been sent to fuel suppliers, and the documentation has been withdrawn. The check was carried out by the North-Western Transport Prosecutor's Office in connection with the delayed flights in St. Petersburg Pulkovo.

A law enforcement source noted that "this is only the beginning of a large investigation into the actions of the VIM-Avia management, since serious violations in their activities have been recorded since mid-summer." The case will be large and multi-episode, he believes.

In the meantime, the Federal Air Transport Agency announced that VIM-Avia will completely stop charter flights to places of rest, and other Russian airlines can connect to socially significant routes to the Far East to take out passengers.

According to sources, about 140 thousand tickets have been sold for VIM-Avia flights, for the removal of passengers they can attract funds from the reserve fund of the Federal Air Transport Agency (about 50 million rubles), but this will not be enough. One of the interlocutors notes that "the scale of the financial calamity is still not clear, without such an understanding it is inexpedient to allocate funds."

The Federal Air Transport Agency said that when monitoring the state of VIM-Avia, the reporting "testified to the good condition of the company."

Now work continues with VIM-Avia's creditors, said the Federal Air Transport Agency, who “retain their interest in the airline, but only in the event of a fundamental change in its financial model”.

The possibility of attracting Tatneft to guarantees for the supply of fuel was discussed, but, as the source says, “initially it was ready to guarantee them until the end of September, but now - only on prepayment”.

An interlocutor in the tourism market notes that the collapse of VIM-Avia is not profitable for tour operators, "but it is likely that this cannot be avoided, the company has too many debts." There are no tour operators that form programs on the basis of VIM-Avia now, the largest current volume is at NTK Intourist - 27 thousand seats.

Sergei Tolchin, Intourist's sales director, points out that the company currently loads 9-10 VIM-Avia flights a day only for departure. “This is a small volume for our business, we are considering replacement options, but it is quite difficult to do this,” he admits.

Another source in the industry notes that the popularity of VIM-Avia among tour operators is due to low prices: “This summer, her price for a chair in Antalya was $ 50-80 lower than that of the competition.”

“Any decision will not lead to fatal consequences for the market,” said Fedor Borisov, chief expert at the Institute for Transport Economics and Transport Policy at the Higher School of Economics. The main shock and health-improving effect was brought by the departure of Transaero, he says, the anti-crisis plan of VIM-Avia should include realistic volumes with an increase in the profitable rate.

09/26: "VIM-avia" provided fake reports to Rosaviatsia

The VIM-avia airline has officially admitted that it does not have the financial means to continue its activities and will now stop operating charter flights.

On the most socially significant routes to the Far East, other Russian airlines can join VIM-avia's passenger traffic. The department emphasizes that the owner has no money left to continue transportation on his own.

External management may be introduced in VIM-avia, and the previous management will be removed from control over economic activity. At the same time, REN TV was told by the Federal Air Transport Agency that the management of VIM-avia had submitted false reports to the department and that this would be done by law enforcement agencies.

Here, at the VIM-avia counters at Domodedovo airport, these people spent more than 12 hours. Many have no strength left, and they try to relax while sitting on carts. Perhaps some of them will have to spend the whole night like this.

The first stage of resentment: people are trying to fight for their rights. The lawyer does not come, the employees of VIM-avia, who during the day tried to blame Turkey, are now blaming the tour operators.

Second stage: indignation is replaced by complete apathy.

And finally, the third stage: people try to return tickets and get their money in order to fly away on another airline. Many have urgent business.

A huge part of passengers is also in complete uncertainty waiting for information in the departure area, where we, journalists, cannot go. The queue in front of the counters was artificially reduced by registering passengers for several flights.

Hundreds of people have spent here all day today, not even waiting for a flight, but at least some information.

Even having received the cherished boarding pass, people no longer believe in anything. Over the past day, there have been cases when VIM-avia passengers returned to the airport after they got on the bus on the takeoff field.

The same situation in Turkish airports... Many Russian tourists are forced to stay in their hotels.

VIM-avia's problems began at the beginning of the summer. Then the company said that the flight schedule was disrupted due to the fact that the planes returned too late from scheduled repairs. But now it turned out that the airline has much more problems: a huge salary debt to employees - 206 million rubles. And huge debts to fuel companies. Airplanes "VIM-avia" have been fueled on credit for a long time.

At the Domodedovo airport they said that from tomorrow they would stop servicing VIM-avia liners free of charge.

“Knowing that the airline’s funds were insufficient to purchase fuel, including at Domodedovo airport, without having contracts for the supply of fuel with other suppliers and thus unable to fulfill their obligations to carry passengers, officials continued to sell air tickets for flights , having received money for this by deception in the amount of over 1 million rubles ", - said Elena Markovskaya, a representative of the Moscow Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee.

And the Investigative Committee found out that the carrier was selling tickets, already knowing that it would not be able to serve these flights.

Experts say that VIM-avia worked according to the principle of “saving up debts in winter, repaying in summer,” but this year the summer season has failed and there is nothing to give back.

As a result, the fate of the airline, one of the ten largest in Russia, hangs in the balance. For the coming months, she has sold 100 thousand tickets, but now no one dares to say whether their owners will reach their destination.

09.25: North-West Transport Prosecutor's Office checks delays of VIM-Avia flights from Pulkovo

The North-West Transport Prosecutor's Office is conducting an inspection in connection with the delayed flights of the VIM-Avia airline from Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg. This was reported on the official website of the prosecutor's office.

"Due to the delay in flights of VIM-Avia from St. Petersburg to Dalaman, Antalya and Shanghai, the North-West Transport Prosecutor's Office organized an inspection of the observance of passengers' rights. Deputy St. Petersburg Transport Prosecutor Alexei Optovkin left for Pulkovo Airport. Progress and results of this checks by the North-West Transport Prosecutor's Office are controlled, "it was reported.

As follows from the data on the Pulkovo online scoreboard, on Monday four VIM-Avia flights are to take off from the airport. Flight No. 9317 to Dalaman (Turkey) was supposed to take off at 06:20 Moscow time, but this did not happen due to the delay in the arrival of the aircraft. According to updated data, the delay will be 13 hours, the departure is scheduled for 19:20 Moscow time. Also delayed are flight No. 804 to Shanghai (China) (departure was scheduled for 13:30 Moscow time), No. 9327 to Dalaman (departure was scheduled at 15:05 Moscow time) and flight No. 9315 to Antalya (Turkey), which should take place at 17 : 50 Moscow time, postponed until 02:50 Moscow time on September 26.

09.24: The Ministry of Transport gave instructions to the Federal Air Transport Agency for the airline "VIM-Avia"

Rosaviation instructed to work with airlines route network"VIM-Avia" and determine those responsible for the transportation of passengers on specific routes, the Ministry of Transport said. This is done in case VIM-Avia is unable to operate flights.

But so far there is no talk of stopping the carrier. The work of the airline will be restored in the near future, the transport department promises.

But due to the complexity of the situation (debts for service at the airport, according to a number of sources, and to the crews on salaries), the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency resumed the work of the anti-crisis headquarters to prevent disruptions in the transportation of passengers who bought tickets for VIM-Avia flights.

As part of its work, an assessment of the potential financial risks of VIM-Avia in the carriage of passengers will be carried out by the end of this year. As a result, if necessary, the Ministry of Transport emphasized, the Federal Air Transport Agency was instructed to introduce restrictions on the depth of sales of airline tickets.

09.22: Tour operator "Mouzenidis Travel" began to take out its tourists from Sheremetyevo on board EllinAir

Tour operator "Mouzenidis Travel", without waiting for the resolution of the conflict between the airport "Domodedovo" and "VIM-Avia", began to evacuate its tourists from Sheremetyevo airport on board EllinAir, the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR) reported on Saturday.

VIM-Avia has already made a partial payment of the debt to the airport, and 19 flights delayed at Domodedovo airport should take off within a day, ATOR noted.

“Today, the status of most of these VIM-Avia flights (with the exception of Yerevan, which retains the status of“ there will be information ”) at Domodedovo has changed to“ delayed. ”The change in status is due to the fact that the airline has already partially paid the debt to Domodedovo airport, and , at least during the weekend, VIM-Avia flights should take off from Domodedovo, "the message says.

Since Friday evening, 19 flights have not been able to take off at Domodedovo airport, and information on their status has been missing on the airport's online scoreboard for a long time. The last flight by the carrier took place on 22 September at 16:35 to Dalaman. All subsequent flights on September 22nd, as well as September 23rd until 9:20 am were marked with the status "Information available". Both domestic flights - to Simferopol, Magadan, Blagoveshchensk, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Krasnodar, and international flights - Dubai, Enfida, Liege, Antalya, Thessaloniki, Rimini, Yerevan were postponed.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency on Saturday, long delays in the airline's flights from Domodedovo are related to its unsettled debt to fueling organizations.

"VIM-Avia" is in the top ten major airlines Russia. According to SPARK-Interfax, it belongs to the spouses Svetlana and Rashid Mursekaev.

Since May, it has been repeatedly reported about massive delays in VIM-Avia flights from Russian cities. The company explained this by the late return from a scheduled repair of several aircraft. Transport prosecutor's offices in several regions initiated an inspection of the airline, Rosaviatsia called the carrier's management to clarify the situation. Later, VIM-Avia partially reduced its charter program and adjusted the schedule in favor of regular domestic flights.

In Domodedovo, 19 flights of VIM-Avia were delayed, according to the airport's online scoreboard. There is no information about dozens of flights.

Flights have been delayed since the evening of September 22nd. The plane Moscow-St. Petersburg was supposed to take off on September 22 at 23:30, but its departure was postponed to 14:00 on September 23. In addition, people cannot travel to Dubai, Enfidu, Liege, Guangzhou, Thessaloniki, Antalya, Sochi, Rimini, Yerevan and other cities.

A spokesman for the Federal Air Transport Agency said that the flight delays are related to the airline's debt for fuel. According to him, the top management of the company on the morning of September 23 completed negotiations on the provision of warranty obligations, which should help the carrier to fulfill the planned flights in the coming days.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, long delays in the departure of VIM-Avia flights are associated with the airline's debts to fueling organizations.

The Ministry of Transport did not rule out the suspension of the problem carrier. The agency instructed the Federal Air Transport Agency to determine the airlines, which, if this happens, will take on the transportation of Vimavia passengers who bought tickets.

Today the company canceled all Moscow flights. About one and a half thousand people cannot take off from the Domodedovo airport. Delayed 14 flights. Including to Simferopol, Magadan, St. Petersburg, Blagoveshchensk, Sochi and Krasnodar.

There were delays on international routes to Dubai, Antalya, Thessaloniki, Rimini and Yerevan. This is not the first massive delay in VIM-avia flights. A serious failure occurred in late May - early June. Then more than fifty regular and 120 charter flights did not leave on time.

Comments of VIM-AVIA airline regarding the situation with flight delays

Temporary difficulties with the airline's schedule are caused by the traditional seasonal downturn, which led to disputes between business entities and delays on a number of flights.

A number of consultations were held with government agencies that control the aviation industry, as well as negotiations with partners of the airline. At the moment, preliminary agreements have been reached, which should lead to a correction of the situation. A plan is being developed to resolve the situation together with financial institutions that have decided to support the airline.

The airline apologizes to the passengers for the inconvenience caused. In the near future, the flight schedule will be normalized.

Vim-Avia - Delays and cancellations of flights in May-June 2017

Annunciation sufferings VIM-Avia

Press Release VIM-avia:

Boeing 777 VIM-AVIA returned to Blagoveshchensk

The VIM-AVIA wide-body Boeing 777-200 aircraft returned to Blagoveshchensk / Moscow flights. The aircraft type was replaced by numerous requests from passengers and the regional administration.

Blagoveshchensk airport received permission to receive aircraft of the Boeing 777-200 type only at the beginning of this year. Aircraft superior comfort with a full-fledged Business Class, it immediately became very popular among the residents of the Amur Region.

In July 2017, flights to Blagoveshchensk will be operated daily.

Article of the Russian Newspaper:

Flight delays in the Amur Region have become commonplace

In June, the airline "Vim-Avia" twelve times by more than five hours delayed the departure of aircraft from the capital's Domodedovo to Blagoveshchensk. Accordingly, passengers from the capital of the Amur Region to Moscow had many hours of delays. Non-stop flights from Moscow to the region are regularly delayed.

We lost tickets from Moscow to Chisinau. The plane from Blagoveshchensk was six hours late, and we were late for the flight to the Moldovan capital. I had to buy four tickets again. We have lost more than 60,000 rubles, which no one will return to us, - Olga Shilyaeva is sad.

There are hundreds of similar cases and examples in recent months.

At "Vim-Avia" old park aircraft, and they undergo technical and pre-flight training longer than the prescribed time. All this is then collected in a big lump of problems, - say the Ministry of Transport of the Amur Region.

On July 3, the Blagoveshchensk-Moscow flight was canceled altogether - technicians discovered a malfunction in the hydraulic system of the Boeing that had arrived from Moscow. Experts say that the plane with a faulty landing gear landed by a miracle. 238 passengers patiently waited for more than a day for specialists to arrive from Moscow and fix the malfunction. Other airlines refuse to fly to Blagoveshchensk, they are not satisfied with the state of the airport runway. It is short for heavy, long-haul aircraft and requires major refurbishment. "But they promise to start financing this object only in 2019," they say in the regional government.

VIM-avia message about charter flights for July 8 and beyond is missing

0307.17: Vim-Avia flight from Blagoveshchensk to Moscow canceled due to aircraft malfunction

The airline "VIM-Avia" indefinitely postponed the departure of the plane from Blagoveshchensk to Moscow due to a malfunction of the vessel, TASS was told at the airport of Blagoveshchensk on Monday.

“The flight was postponed for technical reasons. After the plane landed in Blagoveshchensk, a malfunction was discovered, which is being eliminated. New information will be after 11 Moscow time ", - said at the airport.

In the manual air harbor clarified that the plane was supposed to fly to Moscow at 10:00 local time (04:00 Moscow time), its passengers went home or were accommodated in a hotel.

On July 1, a Vim-Avia plane landed at Domodedovo with a failed engine

A Vim-Avia plane landed safely at Domododevo Airport with a failed engine. Problems with the propulsion system arose during flight 828 from Zhengzhou on July 1, 2017.

The Boeing 777, which is 15 years old, was heading from the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. Onboard there were 328 passengers and 11 crew members.

"The pilots managed to land the liner, despite the problem," - said the emergency services. Note that the malfunction did not affect the flight duration in any way. According to the airport board, the Boeing 777 landed at Domodedovo on time - at 1:37. Now experts are investigating the cause of the malfunction in the right engine of the airliner.

From June 30 to July 2, none of the VIM-avia flights departed on time

According to the online scoreboard of Domodedovo airport at 10:00 on 07/02/17, none of the VIM-avia flights were sent according to the schedule. The average delay time is one hour. Some flights were delayed by 14 hours.

More than 200 flights remain delayed at Moscow airports due to bad weather

VIM-Avia chronicle of massive flight delays

06/30/17: not better than VIM-Avia?

Russian tourists are stuck at Burgas airport due to flight delays. More than 200 people are waiting for departure from 4.00 Moscow time

Hundreds of Russian tourists are stuck at the Burgas airport because of.
According to the bTV television company, over 200 people, including children returning to St. transit zone airport.

According to preliminary data, the reason for the delay in flights to Moscow was unfavorable weather conditions in the Russian capital, and the flight to St. Petersburg was postponed due to an aircraft malfunction.
"Starting from June 24, the Bulgarian airline almost constantly violates the air transportation schedule. At the moment, five flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg have already been delayed for several hours. There are complaints from passengers that the airline does not provide them with adequate food and does not inform them about the situation," said the vice consul Consulate General RF in Varna Alexander Dergachev.

The diplomat noted that the consulate also faces difficulties in communicating with the airline, since its phones do not answer. In addition, passengers are not issued with flight delays.

The Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria assured the TASS correspondent that they would provide the Russians with the necessary assistance. "The Ministry of Tourism has not received any complaints from the Russians yet, but we will promptly intervene in the situation and provide them with the necessary assistance," said a representative of the department, Albena Metodieva.

06/30/17: Bulgaria Air received admission to flights instead of VIM-Avia until the end of the season

Bulgaria Air will replace the canceled VIM-Avia charter program to Bulgaria (instead of 9149/50 flights). Rosaviatsia issued permits to the carrier until the end of the season.

Bulgaria Air flights were consolidated by the tour operator Solvex. Bulgaria air received its first single admission to the Moscow - Burgas flight on June 27. The flight took place on the same day with a five-hour delay due to the late issuance of a permit and the need for subsequent approvals.

Solvex reported today that Bulgaria Air has received admissions to the entire charter program until the end of the season - 12 September. Thus, Bulgaria Air flights completely replace the canceled VIM-Avia flight program to Burgas. According to the obtained permission, the carrier flies to Burgas on Tuesdays and Fridays.

06/30/17: Delays of VIM-avia flights continue

According to the online scoreboard of Domodedovo airport at 21:00 on June 30, 17, some Vim-avia flights were delayed by an hour or more. And flight NN 357 to Anapa was delayed for more than 12 hours.

NN 9309 ANTALYA scheduled departure 06/30/2017 5:30 actual departure time 6:17
NN 9305 ANTALYA scheduled departure 06/30/2017 5:50 actual departure time 7:07
NN 817 CHANSHA scheduled departure 06/30/2017 6:40 AM actual departure time 9:24 AM
NN 771 TENERIFE scheduled departure 06/30/2017 14:20 actual departure time 16:50
NN 349 KRASNODAR scheduled departure 06/30/2017 15:45 actual departure time 17:03
NN 115 SOCHI scheduled departure 06/30/2017 16:25 actual departure time 17:40
NN 345 ​​SIMFEROPOL scheduled departure 06/30/2017 16:00 actual departure time 18:34
NN 775 SAINT-PETERSBURG scheduled departure 06/30/2017 17:00 actual departure time 18:42
NN 197 MAGADAN scheduled departure 06/30/2017 18:30 actual departure time 19:37
NN 181 BLAGOVESCHENSK scheduled departure 06/30/2017 18:30 actual departure time 19:40
NN 9307 ANTALYA scheduled departure 06/30/2017 15:55 Delayed until 20:28
NN 163 MAKHACHKALA scheduled departure 06/30/2017 22:00 Delayed until 23:20
NN 357 ANAPA scheduled departure 06/30/2017 16:10 Delayed until 07/01/2017 5:30

06/28/17: Delays of VIM-avia flights continue

According to the online scoreboard of Domodedovo airport at 21:50 on 06/28/17, some Vim-avia flights were delayed by an hour or more.

flight NN 2215 to LARNACA scheduled departure on 28.06.2017 12:55 was sent at 14:44
flight NN 343 to SIMFEROPOL scheduled departure 06/28/2017 12:35 pm was sent 16:19
flight NN 775 to SAINT-PETERSBURG scheduled departure on June 28, 2017 at 17:00 was departed at 19:11
flight NN 197 to MAGADAN scheduled departure 06/28/2017 at 18:30 was sent at 20:04
flight NN 345 ​​combined with flight NN 341 to SIMFEROPOL scheduled departure 28.06.2017 16:00 Delayed until 28.06.2017 21:10
flight NN 181 to BLAGOVESCHENSK scheduled departure 06/28/2017 18:30 Delayed until 06/28/2017 23:25
flight NN 125 to IRKUTSK scheduled departure 06/28/2017 23:00 Delayed until 06/28/2017 23:30

06/27/17: Bulgaria Air and Onur Air received admissions for canceled VIM-Avia flights

According to ATOR, the Federal Air Transport Agency has given one-time permits for additional flights of the Bulgarian airline Bulgaria air and Turkish Onur Air.

Recall that at the end of last week the Ministry of Transport confirmed its readiness to issue permits to foreign airlines for flights that can replace the canceled charter programs of VIM-Avia. Foreign carriers (Atlasglobal, Onur Air, Bulgaria air) have long applied for admissions to the Federal Air Transport Agency, but a flight permit has not been issued. This week, the issue has become even more acute - tour operators are faced with the lack of containers for the removal of tourists from rest.

The tour operator Solvex has consolidated Bulgaria Air flights instead of the canceled VIM-Avia program from Moscow to Burgas. The first flight was supposed to be performed on June 27, but there was no certainty until lunchtime on the same day. On Monday, June 26, the tour operator wrote a letter to the Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov.

At about 17.00 on Tuesday, June 27, permission to operate the Bulgaria Air flight was received. Onur Air has also been issued permission to fly to Antalya.

Experts note that the attraction of Onur Air does not solve the problem of canceled VIM-Avia flights to Crimea and Sochi in any way - it can only expand transportation in the Turkish direction, but no more.
It is reported that new approvals are not permanent - carriers will receive new approvals for each flight.

The Atlasglobal program to Antalya from Moscow and St. Petersburg remains questionable. These flights should replace the charters canceled by VIM-Avia. The flights are consolidated by the tour operator NTK Intourist.

06/25/17: Ural travel agencies are preparing claims against VIM-Avia for flight delays

Travel companies operating in the Ural regions are preparing claims against VIM-Avia in connection with delays in charter flights. This was announced to TASS on Monday by Mikhail Maltsev, executive director of the Ural Tourism Association.

Recently, VIM-Avia has massively delayed flights from different airports, the carrier attributed this to the late arrival of aircraft from maintenance. To stabilize the situation, the airline partially reduced the charter program for the summer period, canceling 13 destinations, including Sochi, Crimea, Turkey, Bulgaria.

"Of course, travel agencies are preparing claims against VIM-Avia. The delay in charter flights has led to additional costs associated with ground handling of passengers - providing them with food, booking hotels. Tourists are also preparing claims against VIM-Avia." said Maltsev.
In his opinion, the amount of claims in some cases can reach several million rubles. "Claims are being prepared on an individual basis, so I do not yet have exact data on their number," he said.

Earlier, Maltsev told TASS that from 8 thousand to 25 thousand people faced problems associated with VIM-Avia in the Urals, these are residents of Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. Only because of the cancellation of VIM-Avia transportation from Tyumen to Turkey, about 8 thousand tourists suffered, most of them turkish airline transferred to a flight from Yekaterinburg.

As the vice-president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Alexander Osaulenko reported earlier, more than 200 thousand people in Russia suffered from problems with VIM-Avia. According to the head of Rostourism Oleg Safonov, VIM-Avia has no financial problems. Earlier, he clarified that tourists who have purchased tours with a VIM-Avia flight and have encountered a delay or cancellation of flights will not lose their money - either they will be able to fly on other flights, or they will receive a refund.

06/22/17: The prosecutor's office brought VIM-Avia and its general director to responsibility for flight delays

According to the ministry, the delays were caused, among other things, by the late arrival of the aircraft, technical issues scheduled ships and the company lacks an adequate number of reserve aircraft.

The Volga Transport Prosecutor's Office initiated administrative proceedings against the airline "VIM-Avia" and its general director for 173 flight delays.

As reported in the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia, during the audit, "it was established that from May 28 to June 12 of this year, VIM-Avia Aviation LLC allowed 173 flight delays lasting more than two hours, of which 52 are regular flights and 121 are charter. ”The reasons for this were, among other things, late arrivals of aircraft, technical malfunctions of planned aircraft and the company's lack of an adequate number of reserve aircraft.

"Considering that these circumstances constitute an administrative offense, the Volga Transport Prosecutor's Office opened cases of an administrative offense under Part 3 of Art. 14.1.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (" Carrying out entrepreneurial activities in the field of transport in violation of the conditions stipulated by the license "), in relation to of the airline and its general director Alexander Kochnev. Cases were sent to the magistrate of the court area No. 2 of the Sabinsky judicial region of the Republic of Tatarstan for consideration on the merits, "the Prosecutor General's Office noted.

06/19/17 Press release of Rostourism

THE OPERATIVE HEADQUARTERS FOR NORMALIZING THE SITUATION WITH DELAYED FLIGHTS OF THE VIM-AVIA AIRLINE DEVELOPED A SCHEME TO OVERCOME A SHORTAGE OF CARRYING RESOURCES ON DOMESTIC AIR LINES

Measures to normalize the situation in the air transportation market were discussed by the participants of the next meeting of the headquarters to normalize the situation with the delayed flights of the VIM-AVIA airline, which took place in Rosturizm under the chairmanship of the head of the department Oleg Safonov on June 19, 2017. It was attended by representatives of the Government Office Russian Federation, Federal Air Transport Agency, air carrier "VIM-AVIA" and tour operators.

At present, the situation is generally stabilized: the flights of the VIM-AVIA air carrier are operated in accordance with the new flight scheme, which was agreed upon and fixed in the agreement between the flight consolidator and the airline.

To carry out the postponed and canceled foreign flights of VIM-Avia, other air carriers will be involved. At the same time, taking into account the measures taken to normalize flights, the Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Oleg Safonov called on VIM-Avia to restore the regional flight program from the regions of Russia to Sochi and Simferopol. This issue should be resolved within a few days. Particular attention is paid to adherence to all planned transportation of children's groups.

To resolve issues related to compensation for delayed or canceled flights, the flight consolidator has prepared a reconciliation report, which is considered by the air carrier.

In Rosturizm continues to work " hot line", Where you can get information about the current situation and the possibilities of compensating for losses from delays and cancellations of VIM-AVIA flights.

“Respect for the rights of all tourists is guaranteed, compensation payments are possible. However, the most important thing is to ensure the timely delivery of tourists to their holiday destinations. It is necessary to take all measures to ensure that the planned trips take place, to implement a solution that will fully satisfy the needs for air transportation, both to foreign and domestic resorts. In the interests of tourists, extraordinary measures can be taken as an exceptional case, ”said Oleg Safonov, Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism.

June 19: VIM-avia will attract foreign companies to transport charter passengers abroad

VIM-avia will attract foreign airlines to transport passengers of charter flights to foreign destinations, several sources in the tour operator community and in aviation circles told TASS. This idea was approved by the head of the Ministry of Transport Maxim Sokolov, said one of the agency's interlocutors.
Such a scheme is indeed now being worked out by tour operators working with VIM-Avia, and was discussed today at a meeting in Rosturizm, the press service of the department reported.

On June 15, Rosturizm hosted a meeting of the headquarters to normalize the situation with delayed flights of VIM-avia

Following the meeting, Rosturizm issued the following press release:

The next meeting of the headquarters to normalize the situation with the delayed flights of the VIM-AVIA airline was held in Rosturizm under the chairmanship of the head of the department Oleg Safonov on June 15, 2017. It was attended by representatives of the Government Office of the Russian Federation, Federal Air Transport Agency, the VIM-AVIA air carrier and tour operators.

At present, the flights of the air carrier are carried out in accordance with the reduced flight program, the implementation of which is provided by the real carrying resources of VIM-AVIA. New schema flights are agreed and fixed in the agreement between the flight consolidator and the airline. Taking into account this scheme, tour operators are selling tours.

To resolve issues related to compensation for delayed or canceled flights, the flight consolidator has prepared a reconciliation report, which will be considered by the air carrier in the coming days.

A "hot line" continues to operate in Rosturizm, where you can get information about the current situation and the possibilities of compensating for losses from delays and cancellations of VIM-AVIA flights. As it was noted during the meeting, the number of calls has dropped significantly in recent days.

Respect for the rights of all tourists is guaranteed. For compensation, tourists can contact tour operators or travel agents. Large tour operators will soon prepare explanations for tourists on the procedure for obtaining them.

The head of the Federal Tourism Agency, Oleg Safonov, appealed to the Federal Air Transport Agency and the airline "VIM-AVIA" with an appeal to resume transportation in the direction of Simferopol and Sochi as soon as possible.

He also noted that adherence to the schedule of transportation of children's groups is under special control.

"Planned performance by the air carrier flight program and avoiding further disruption to flight schedules is especially important during the “high” summer tourist season. Rosturizm, in cooperation with all interested parties, keeps the situation under control and monitors the implementation of measures aimed at its normalization. At the moment, solutions have been found for most of the problematic issues that will guarantee the rights of tourists and bring the work of all market participants into regular mode. We consider the resumption of air transportation in the direction of Simferopol and Sochi to be the most important task, ”says Oleg Safonov, Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism.

Delays and cancellations of VIM-Avia flights began on May 29, 2017 at the Moscow Domodedovo airport. Most of the delayed flights at Domodedovo airport were supposed to fly to Turkey and Cyprus.

June 10, 2017: Problems with Vim-Avia flights affected 10 thousand passengers

Over the past 2 weeks, about 10 thousand passengers have suffered from the problems of Vim-Avia in one way or another, experts of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) estimate. This was reported by the press service of the organization.

In total, according to preliminary data, up to 250 thousand people have booked summer vouchers with Vim-Avia flights. At the same time, some companies have already paid for up to two-thirds of all ordered tours. At the moment, vouchers with tickets from this carrier are offered by a total of eight tour operators - NTK Intourist, Coral Travel, ICS Travel Group and others.

A number of large companies on the market claim that Vim-Avia now operates more than half of its flights on time. It is clarified that at the moment tour operators do not intend to refuse the services of a carrier, since with a high demand for vacations in the summer, its absence on the market cannot be compensated.

On Wednesday, June 7, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko said that the department could not revoke the operator's certificate from Vim-Avia due to flight delays. However, the official warned that if major disruptions to airline schedules continued, the country could cancel all charters. Later, the adviser to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency denied this information.

08 June 2017: Airlines were given 12 days to resolve flight delays

Rosaviation instructed Russian airlines until June 20 to solve the problem with massive flight delays. This was reported by the press service of the federal agency.

By the specified date, carriers must completely eliminate and prevent future disruptions in the schedule lasting more than two hours. They are also required to adjust the flight program, ensure the availability of backup aircraft and notify passengers in advance of changes in the schedule.

Such an order was given by the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko following a meeting with charter airlines. He noted that in the first five months of this year, they have significantly increased the volume of passenger traffic.

However, the increase in this indicator is not supported by the availability of the required number of aircraft and personnel, he noted. This leads to numerous cases of flight cancellations and delays, Neradko explained.

During the meeting, officials also noted that airlines are neglecting the requirements for reserve aircraft. In addition, they do not always provide passengers on delayed flights with their due free services... The carriers were also told to use fully functional liners.

If the airlines ignore these requirements, the Federal Air Transport Agency will conduct unscheduled inspections of them, point-wise limit the charter program of these organizations and warn tour operators and passengers about their dishonesty, the department warned.

Earlier, on June 7, Neradko said that the federal agency could completely cancel non-scheduled flights in the country if charter delays continue. Later that day, his advisor denied this possibility.

June 07, 2017: VIM-Avia will partially reduce the charter program for the summer of 2017

VIM-Avia will partially cut its charter schedule for the summer of 2017, the new schedule will be published on Thursday, the airline's press service said.
"In order to quickly stabilize the schedule of charter flights, VIM-Avia decided to partially reduce the charter program for the spring-summer period of 2017," the statement says.

It is noted that the management of the airline made a decision to impose restrictions due to the uncharacteristically high increase in passenger traffic for the end of May, which "gave a rolling pattern to violations of the flight schedule." The schedule of charter flights for the summer was adjusted after consultation with tour operators and government agencies that control the tourism and aviation sectors.

Details of the schedule changes will be announced on Thursday, June 8th. Priority was given to regular domestic flights, as well as charters, the organizers of which have fulfilled their financial obligations to the airline in full. The schedule will fully stabilize within two weeks - they promise in VIM-Avia.

Earlier, the Federal Air Transport Agency stated that VIM-Avia had not calculated its capabilities in terms of the volume of air transportation with its desires.

June 07, 2017: The government expects a gradual solution to the problems with "VIM-Avia"

The government is in contact with VIM-Avia and expects the airline to gradually get out of the difficulties, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters on the sidelines of the Startup Village conference.

“The market is not easy, quite tough now, so it’s not easy for airlines. Nevertheless, we are trying to find an acceptable solution, we hope that the company will get out of the difficulties,” he said, commenting on the situation with VIM-Avia.

According to Dvorkovich, the government is working with the airline. "Delays are gradually eliminated, the company is ready to pay money for the freight. That is, it is not a question of liquidity, but a question of the availability of aircraft that are available for flights," added the Deputy Prime Minister.

As the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov said earlier on the air of the TV channel "Russia 1", Russian air carriers will provide two aircraft to support flights of the company "VIM-Avia". Sokolov expressed confidence that charter programs related to Russian destinations, in particular, Sochi, Crimea and others Black Sea resorts will not be harmed. The minister also stressed that over the next two weeks, the situation with charter flights will be stabilized.

June 07, 2017: Federal Air Transport Agency: "VIM-Avia" has not calculated its capabilities in terms of air traffic

The airline "VIM-Avia", which is experiencing problems with flight delays, did not correlate its capabilities in terms of the volume of air transportation with its desires.
This was announced to reporters by the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko.

"The fact is that the airline" VIM-Avia "for the period from January to May increased the volume of traffic compared to the same period last year by 204%. The airline did not calculate its capabilities with its desires ... their transportation, "overheated", and now they have to adjust their transportation programs, "- he said.
At the same time, Neradko noted, commenting on information in a number of media outlets about the malfunction of the airline's aircraft, that the Federal Air Transport Agency does not have such information.
“The safety situation of their flights is under control, and as for their production program of activities, they have to cancel a certain number of flights now. operational headquarters in Rosturizm, our specialists work, "he said.

According to Neradko, the headquarters controls, first of all, the resort directions of the airline - Sochi, Mineral water, Simferopol, as well as transportation of organized groups of children and tourists. He noted that due to the situation with flight delays, VIM-Avia is also experiencing financial difficulties. "They have a sufficient number of charter flights on the Chinese direction, other directions, here the airline has to transfer its passengers to flights of other airlines and partially cancel flights and return money to passengers," said the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency.

Recently, the airline has been massively delaying flights from various airports. The carrier explains this by the late arrival of aircraft from maintenance. Transport prosecutors' offices in several regions have begun checking on delays. Later, the company announced a reduction in the charter program of flights until June 15, noting that on June 1, the situation with the transfer of flights in the schedule began to stabilize.

Earlier it was reported that VIM-Avia announced the cancellation of 13 charter flights from June 6. This applies to flights from Moscow, Sochi, Simferopol, Burgas, Antalya and other cities. At the same time, the carrier undertakes to fulfill all obligations to passengers that have already been transported to Russian and foreign resorts.

05 June 2017: VIM-avia flight delays as of 07:00 (Moscow time)

As of 7 am 06/05/17 delays from regular flights VIM-avia does not. The situation was corrected.

Many charter flights have been canceled until July 15th. As stated by VIM-avia, all charter tourists already transported to foreign resorts will be taken out from there according to the purchased vouchers.

For those who are just about to have a vacation, it is recommended to contact travel companies from which vouchers were purchased, which include a flight.

Tour operators are actively solving the issue of delivering tourists on sold tours by other airlines. Also, tourists are invited to return the voucher or change the dates of the trip without any financial loss. We hope that by joint efforts a solution will be found and all tourists will be able to rest comfortably.

04 June 2017: VIM-avia flight delays as of 15:00 (Moscow time)

According to the data online scoreboard Domodedovo airport, as of 15:00 on June 4, 2017, 2 flights were delayed.

Ekaterinburg Airport (Koltsovo) Departure
NN-9357 SIMFEROPOL 04 Jun 22:05 - canceled

Anadyr Airport (Ugolny) Departure
Flight NN 194 to Domodedovo Plan: 15:00 06/01/2017 expected: 11:00 06/04/2017 - Delayed: due to Non-arrival

Some flights to Anapa, Sochi and Krasnodar from Domodedovo are combined with Alrosa flights.

03 June 2017: press release from VIM-avia:

Information about canceled VIM-AVIA flights on June 4

Dear passengers!

NN9373 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Larnaca
NN9375 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Heraklion
NN9309 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
NN9310 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
NN9351 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Simferopol
NN9325 Saint Petersburg - Antalya

03 June 2017: press release from VIM-avia

Updating information about canceled VIM-AVIA flights

Dear passengers!

flight No. 9341 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Sochi (Adler)
flight No. 9377 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Burgas
flight No. 9145 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Burgas
flight No. 9149 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Burgas
flight No. 5721 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
flight No. 5723 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
flight No. 5725 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Enfida
flight No. 9301 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
flight No. 9305 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
flight No. 9307 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya
flight No. 9309 Moscow (Domodedovo) - Antalya

Passengers of canceled charter flights are kindly requested not to come to the airport. Your tour operator owns the information about your trip. All obligations to passengers of charter flights, which have already been transported to Russian and foreign resorts, will be fulfilled. The airline apologizes to the passengers for the inconvenience caused.

June 02, 2017: The Ministry of Transport controls the situation with the delays of VIM-Avia flights

The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation is monitoring the situation with flight delays of VIM-Avia; at the moment it is not planned to revoke the operator's certificate from the airline. The Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov announced this to journalists on the sidelines of SPIEF-2017.

"Of course," he said, answering the question of whether the Ministry of Transport controls the situation with flight delays of the VIM-Avia airline. "On the way are the planes that were in a difficult shape (of repair), so the situation should improve next week. It has stabilized now, and will be improved next week," the minister said.
So far, the Ministry of Transport does not see the need to revoke the operator's certificate, Sokolov added.

Earlier it was reported that since May 31, VIM-Avia has postponed the second flight from Moscow to Anadyr, more than 400 passengers at Chukotka airports cannot fly to " mainland". Governor of Chukotka Roman Kopin appealed to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency with a request to deal with the situation.

Recently, the airline has been massively delaying flights from various airports. The carrier attributed this to the late arrival of aircraft from maintenance. Transport prosecutor's offices in several regions have begun checking on the fact of massive flight delays. The day before, the company announced a reduction in the charter program of flights until June 15, noting that on June 1, the situation with the transfer of flights in the schedule began to stabilize.

June 02, 2017: Kolyma authorities are ready to sever relations with VIM-Avia in case of new flight delays

Now 190 people are expecting a flight to Moscow in the capital of Kolyma
Government Magadan region is ready to break off relations with VIM-Avia if the situation with delayed flights from Moscow to Magadan and back repeats. This was stated in an interview with TASS by the Governor of the Magadan Region, Vladimir Pechenyi.

“We are tough again with the management of the company, again, since last year there was the same situation, we talked that if this continues, we will look for another airline. maintenance, and the lack of personnel, including pilots, "Pechenyi said.

He added that there is no pandemonium at the Magadan airport, since all passengers were notified in advance of the flight delay.
“I applied to the Federal Air Transport Agency, besides that, we worked directly with the company for several days. It was decided tomorrow (June 3) there will be an additional flight. ...

Earlier, TASS reported that the governor of Chukotka, Roman Kopin, and the governor of the Magadan region, Vladimir Pechenyi, have already turned to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency with a request to deal with the situation. Almost 430 passengers of this airline are expected to take off in Anadyr, 190 in Magadan. VIM-Avia told TASS that the schedule is now being adjusted in order to transport passengers as quickly as possible. Of the Far East- from Anadyr and Magadan.