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Vladivostok Novosti Company
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October 17, 2006
Flights to Kunashir Island banned
The Vladivostok News
Air flights to the Kunashir Island, one of the four Kuril islets, have been suspended since October 15 due to a crisis condition of a local airport ‘Mendeleyevo’, Sakhalin Airlines press service reported.
An air company Sakhalin Airlines (SAT Airlines), which has been operating the flights to the Kunashir for 14 years, halted the traffic to the island in accord with the urgent telegram from the chief inspector of the federal air watchdog for the far eastern territory.
The telegram said that, “the runway of the airdrome Mendeleyevo is in emergency condition and does not meet safety flights requirements,” the press statement from SAT Airlines reported. Moreover, the airdrome does not have the state registration documentation and certificates allowing provision of air services, the telegram said.
SAT Airlines management pointed out that they had repeatedly urged the federal government to allocate funds on renovation of the airdrome but so far no financial aid has been received, the press statement said.
Since October 15 the residents of the Kunashir Island have to rely on sea transportation services to carry them to and from the island. The sea trip takes 12 hours and is carried out by a steamship ‘Igor Farkhutdinov’, which takes passengers onboard in the port of Korsakov and brings them to the Kunashir Island. The flight by An-24 used to take one hour.
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