Russian PM says regional aviation faces crisis

Russia’s regional aviation faces crisis, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

56% of all flights in Russia are serviced by Moscow air traffic control. This means that air traffic has become a lot more centralized than it was in the Soviet times, but it is a crisis of regional aviation.

Medvedev emphasized that the government pays special attention to modernization. 1 billion rubles were spent on development of airport infrastructure in 2002, compared with 41 billion in 2011. It is a significant improvement, the prime minister notes.

The PM added that aviation is not the sphere where stalemate is acceptable. Progress must be constant, he concludes.