1. GENERAL INFORMATION

On 25 February 2013 Kazakhstan adopted the new Rules on Entitlement of Airline Companies to Performance of Regular Internal Commercial Air Transportations (the "Rules").

Generally, the Rules that are based on the Kazakhstani Law on Usage of Airspace of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Aviation Activities dated 15 July 2010 (the "Law") set out terms and qualification requirements to the companies that intend to run regular air transportation in Kazakhstan1. It is to be noted that previously there have already been certain rules and terms for usage of airspace, certification of aircrafts and members of air crews, certification of users of airspace. However, the Rules are the first document that set out qualification requirements and terms for regular internal air transportation in Kazakhstan.

2. GENERAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND TERMS OF AIR TRANSPORTATION

The Rules divide all transportations into local and regional transportations. Local transportations are transportations performed within borders of one region (so-called "Oblast") and the regional transportations are transportations crossing the borders of one or more regions and including cities of a republican status or a capital of Kazakhstan. I.e. any transporting flight that includes a city of a republican status or a capital is considered as a regional transportation even if carried out within one Oblast.

The Rules provide among others for the following requirements for a company that intends to perform local air transportation:

  • The candidate should be registered in Kazakhstan as an airline company;
  • The company should hold a valid certificate of an airspace user, obtained in accordance with the relevant rules on certification of airspace users.
  • The candidate should have an airline fleet with at least two aircrafts (owned or leased by the candidate) with the relevant valid certificates of air worthiness of equal passenger capacity (the Rules, however, do not specify the minimum passenger capacity).
  • The list of requirements for candidates who intend to carry out regional air transportations is much wider and includes among others the following requirements:
  • The candidate should be registered in Kazakhstan as an airline company;
  • The company should hold a valid certificate of an airspace user, obtained in accordance with the relevant rules on certification of airspace users;
  • The candidate should have an airline fleet with at least five aircrafts (owned or leased by the candidate) with the relevant valid certificates of air worthiness of equal passenger capacity (the Rules, however, do not specify the minimum passenger capacity);
  • The candidate should have at least one year experience in provision of non-regular transportations or regular local transportations;
  • The company should have financial resources necessary and enough for organization of planned flights schedule;
  • The candidate should hold a valid audit certificate (IOSA) of International Air Transport Association;
  • The candidate should have an Internet resource capable to carry out booking and electronic purchase of tickets;
  • The company should have offices of tickets purchase in at least two cities where the flights are planned to be performed.

The above requirements should be confirmed by the relevant documents listed by the Rules and submitted to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (the "Ministry") that is an authorized body in relation to the air transportation.

In order to consider the documents submitted the Ministry organizes a special commission that checks the completeness of the documents and decides whether to issue the permit to perform regular air transportation (the "Permit") or not.

3. REVOCATION OF THE PERMIT

The Rules provide that the Ministry may revoke the Permit in case its holder does not qualify the requirements after issuance of the Permit. The Ministry may find out that the Permit holder does not qualify the requirements in terms of inspections caused by applications of legal entities or individuals related to the claims to bad performance. The inspections may also be initiated in accordance with Kazakhstani laws on governmental inspections, control and supervision.

4. CONCLUSION

Analysis of the new Rules has shown that Kazakhstani air transportation authorities are aimed on improvement of regulation of air transportations and upgrading of safety and quality of air operations services.

Footnotes

1. According to the Law, a regular flight means the flights carried out in accordance with a particular schedule of flights.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.