september2021 - 49

GROUND HANDLING
primarily observed in the case of domestic
operators. Of course, further dynamics will
directly depend on the restrictions - or lack of
them - of air traffic between the countries, and
other measures aimed at combating COVID19,
that could be implemented by the Russian
government, " says Pavel Kudryavtsev, an official
spokesman of independent ground service
provider UTG Group.
Meanwhile, in addition to pandemic issues,
the concerns of operators and other market
players are related with the current regulation
of the domestic ground handling sector by
the state. Despite the earlier announced state
plans to design a new regulatory framework
to ensure more efficient functioning of the
industry, the final adoption of some important
legislative acts is seriously delayed.
Currently the lack of regulations of ground
handling sector in Russia remains still one
of the major problems of the industry. That
creates conditions for monopolization of the
industry by selected companies, which are
usually affiliated with the management of
airports.
Domodedovo's Vlasov says there is an acute
need to take actions for more active de-monopolization
of the Russian ground handling
industry.
" To fully implement this model, the market
needs unified rules that would determine the
procedure for admitting third-party operators
to activities at the airport, fixed unified
requirements for the quality of services and
clear definition of the operator's responsibility, "
Vlasov says. " At the moment, Russian
legislation does not contain these rules. "
In regard to Domodedovo, Vlasov says the
airport has always advocated equal conditions
for consumers' access to infrastructure facilities
and services, being one of the first in the
country to begin to de-monopolize the ground
handling market.
Local regulators, however, are aware of
the current criticism from operators and airports,
considering ways for the tightening of
a control for any monopolistic activities in the
industry.
One such regulator, the Federal Anti-Monopoly
Service (FAS), has recently announced
its plans to start more active monitoring of
tariffs, including those, which are set for
ground handling services by airports and
ground handling operators.
As part of this, operators will have to notify
the FAS about any change of tariffs no later
than 10 days in advance. The anti-monopoly
agency will analyze the information justifying
the change in tariffs and charges for ground
handling services.
Part of the plans of authorities is also taking
measures for the protection of the industry's
personnel from massive layoffs, similar to
those that were observed at the end of last year
when massive staff reductions were conducted
by some leading local operators.
On November 2020 the Russian Ren-TV
channel reported about layoffs in Sheremetyevo-Handling,
an official ground handling
operator of the Sheremetyevo airport.
Layoffs in the ground handling sector
of Russia occurred despite the provision of
almost RUB 12 billion ($163 million USD) subsidy
to the domestic aviation industry by the
state - a move to mitigate the consequences of
the pandemic and to ensure social guarantees
for industry's workers.
The government also fears repetition of a
major row in the industry, similar to those
that took place at Sheremetyevo in June 2019
when, due to the lack of baggage handlers,
more than 9,000 pieces of luggage were
accumulated, which led to flight disruptions
for passengers.
At that time, the investigation initiated by
the Russian General Prosecutors' Office led to
the opening of more than 20 administrative
cases and the dismissal of several managers
of the airport, particularly those that were
responsible for organizing ground handling
operations at Sheremetyevo.
The government plans to tighten control for
the technical side of ground handling services
at Russian airports and their compliance with
the existing Technological Schedules of Aircraft
Maintenance (TGO AC) - the existing
standards for the provision of such services
in Russia.
In Russia, the TGO of aircraft depended on
their type, with service time being established
centrally. In addition, the list of operations
was mandatory. In accordance with the curSEPTEMBER
2021 AviationPros.com 49
Photo courtesy of Artem Kashirin | Domodedovo Airport
http://www.AviationPros.com
september2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of september2021
